Former boxing referee Bill Philips revealed an interesting story from the time he was still active. Philips said that he was once offered two call girls as attempted bribe to fix a match.
Bill Phillips discussed the rampant corruption across Olympic boxing. It only makes sense as sports like boxing are strongly tied to gambling. Often, the judges are the ones who become the bribing target, and there are many cases where these judges got caught and stood down.
Aside from the judges, the referees inside the ring can also be bribed. During a recent interview with The Times, former Olympic boxing referee Bill Phillips recalled how bad the corruption in boxing was from the time when he was still doing his job.
“Boxing has been corrupt since the day I started. There were always straight people in the game and I had some great times, but I remember one referee going home with a suitcase full of presents. It’s endemic. It’s because it’s easy for a referee to affect a fight.” Phillips said.
The 73-year-old continued to explain how referees can easily manipulate matches.
“There are always going to be infringements in a bout, mainly holding or misuse of the head. You can just keep picking on them. Or caution them. The third time you give them a warning so they are deducted points. It can mean they’ve lost that round. If the other boxer is getting on top you can stop it, wipe his face. There are all kinds of things a referee can do to influence the outcome of a bout. I can see when a referee has been got at.” Phillip said.
Phillip recalled one occasion where a group of unknown people tried to bribe him in a very interesting method. Ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in China, Phillip was approached by several call girls at night as an attempted bribe.
“I was still unpacking when I heard a knock at the door. So I open it and a young girl, absolutely stunning, is standing there. ‘Mr Phillips, I’ve come to keep you company’, she said, and I said ‘No, I’m okay thank you’. So she went. Then about an hour or two later, two came to the door. I started laughing. I said I can’t handle one, let alone two.” Phillip said.
The bribing attempt didn’t stop there. After failing to bribe with prostitutes, the official themselves came tried to bribe him with a huge cash.
The next morning, I’m approached by an official.
“Mr Phillips, is everything okay?’ I said yes. He said ‘You don’t like women?’ I told him I love women but I’m happily married. I’ve been married for 48 years. I have two sons and eight grandchildren.” Phillips said.
“But, that wasn’t the only reason for saying no. It’s a bribe, isn’t it? You’re in their pocket. I don’t need all that crap. I’ve been lucky to have good jobs. I also like to be able to sleep at night.” Phillips added
Despite already rejecting the offer, those unknown groups still secretly dropped the cash in his room. But Phillips refused to spend the money.
“I turned it down, but when I got back to my room an envelope had been pushed under my door with 500 dollars in it,” he added. I thought ‘What’s this all about?’ I tried to find out who it was. In the end I gave it away to some local people out on the street. They were happy.” Phillips concluded.