Muhammad Ali - were any of his fights fixed?In 2010, an England cricket star was under police protection after being targeted by a betting syndicate.
(Star under police protection after threats from betting syndicate ...)Anonymous sent the following message:
"I knew football-players and boxers in 50's London, and 'bought' matches were the norm, all to get the best odds.
"Heard the same about horse-racing, cricket and tennis too.
"Many earned far more money 'under the table' than they ever could actually trying to win.
"But not all were on the take: Cooper, Mills, Eamonn Andrews, for example, never threw a match, always fought to win; the bookies would find all sorts of ways to sway the odds to compensate, as they attracted a LOT of betting, mostly illegal money from various sources being 'cleaned'.
Henry Cooper
"
Henry Cooper did throw one match, but not for money.
"He realised
Cassius Clay (Ali) was under the thumb of the American mafia and the betting on him was astronomical.
"We are talking several hundred million dollars here, ok?
"Ali was a dead man if he lost the match.
"So he allowed him to use 'Henry's Eyes' to win the match.
"But it almost went belly-up; Henry wanted to make a point; that he was quiet capable of winning the heavyweight title (and he was); he was the better boxer (he was) and floored Ali 8 seconds before the bell, giving him time to recover during the break.
"But Ali took one of the best of 'Henry's Hammers' and was in dire-straights, hence the illegal activities in his corner (not only 'the glove', but using smelling-salts to revive a boxer was/is illegal).
"Ali has now publically confessed to all this.
"He later offered Henry a lot of money in compensation, but Henry refused.
Freddie Mills
"It is said
Freddie Mills was bankrupt when he died: I knew Freddie personally and know different, he had just run out of legitimate money (fighting-off the
Kray Twins trying to take over his nightclub) he was having trouble using the ten-times the purse 'illegal' money he had hidden-away to cover it, as the taxman would wonder where it came from.
"I knew one
Swedish boxer who's wife would, every single match, ring an hour before the match and say he was sick, couldn't box.
"The organisers went mad; the punters (read: mafia) had placed huge bets and wouldn't be happy - ie they were dead! 'We'll give you 5 times the agreed official fee, cash, if you get him here, no matter how bad he is he can do his best for 2-3 rounds, we'll get the other boxer to go easy. Deal?'
"She would VERY reluctantly agree.
"And, once in the ring he would beat the shit out of the poor guy 'taking it easy', surprised at how lacklustre the guy was; an off-day?
"And thus would slip the poor sod a few notes after the match, to help him out.
"For he was in perfect health.
"She earned more money out of his boxing than HE did using various scams as this.
"For he didn't know.
"When he found out, now serving 2 years in jail for insurance-fraud as she reported his fancy and expensive cars stolen after selling them, forging his signature on the bill-of-sale she gave the insurance company, he divorced her.
"Where there's money there's betting, and why should modern showbiz be different.
"I've always thought this talent stuff, the phone-ins, were rigged.
"Pushing
pop-stars became big business in the 50's, the new post-war youth generation a prime source of easy money ...and perfectly legal... if you ignore the triple-fee under the table to get a group onstage despite the 'falling sick, car's broke-down miles away, can't afford to fix it', call it what you will.
"The fans would rip the place apart if they guys didn't show; it was cheaper to pay-out.
"Money the manager would pocket, not telling the group.
"Not to mention the manager telling them the gig only paid a fiver and a free beer each, pocketing the rest of the 100 Pounds they actually got paid.
"It's a game.
"In the end, though a good career in showbiz beckoned, I chose to get a normal job and live an honest life."
LOUIS WALSH: YOU LOT DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING
June 12, 2011
"BRITAIN'S Got Talent runner-up Ronan Parke is being paid TWICE as much as winner Jai McDowall.
"The 12-year-old wonder kid will earn £30,000 for just 15 minutes' work-which is a mind-blowing £10,000 per song or £2,000 per minute.
"A music industry insider said last night: 'He is the biggest star to emerge from BGT since SuBo.'
"The Norfolk lad is also being paid around £100,000 to perform on the BGT tour and is then expected to be signed for millions by Sony Music, possibly on Simon Cowell's own SyCo label.
"He believes Ronan could become the UK's answer to Justin Bieber."
(Ronan's £30k for 3 songs)
Myra, whom few people expected would win. (Website)In May 2011, 13-year-old Maneepatsorn 'Myra' Molloy was the winner in the TV programme
Thailand's Got Talent.
There have been accusations that the result was rigged.
(THAILAND'S GOT TALENT ... AND AN EARFUL)
Rumour has it that, in order to arrange Myra's victory, Myra's wealthy father spent at least a million baht.
The criticism of the voting has hit Unilever (Unilever Thai Trading), which spent 200 million baht to get the show rights from London.
Unilever has been accused of rigging the results.
Some angry viewers posted on the internet that they would stop using Unilever products such as Sunsilk shampoo and Rexona deodorant.
Some said the voting process lacks accountability.
Myra will become the new presenter for Sunsilk shampoo.
She receives a 10-million-baht prize.
And, she will become a singer under the Sony Music label.
Some people liked Bell.
~~~
How was it that Ronan Parke, the 'favourite' to win 'Britain's Got Talent', was beaten by Jai McDowall?
~~~
Ronan Parke's most watched video on YouTube - 3,541,994 views
Jai McDowall's most watched video on YouTube - 913,225 views
~~~
Google search for
Ronan Parke video - 4,010,000 results
Google search for
Jai McDowall video - 1,260,000 results
~~~
Google news search for
Ronan Parke - 1,120 results
Google news search for
Jai McDowall - 474 results
~~~
Google image search for
Ronan Parke - 488,000 results
Google image search for
Jai McDowall - 88,200 results
In May 2008, the UK's Serious Fraud Office was considering an investigation into a series of phone-vote scandals at ITV.
This included the rigging of an award for
Ant and Dec, the hosts of 'Britain's Got Talent'.
Fraud police could investigate Ant and Dec's TV voting fix ShowbizIn May 2008, the UK's TV watchdog, Ofcom, warned of "systemic and widespread" problems affecting all broadcasters.
In May 2008, the TV watchdog handed ITV a £5.7million fine for abusing premium rate phone services in viewer competitions.
In 2005, in ITV's British Comedy Awards, the
Catherine Tate Show was robbed of a prize.
Tate got more votes from viewers than Ant and Dec's 'Saturday Night Takeaway'.
But, Ant and Dec's programme was announced as the winner of the People's Choice Award.
Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards told a committee of MPs that during a previous case concerning GMTV, the Serious Fraud Office had asked to see the files.
Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Gameshow Marathon and Soapstar Superstar were all found to have "serious editorial issues".
Three competitions on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway were found to be in breach of the regulators' codes.
On Soapstar Superstar, producers overrode the viewers' vote, so the wrong participants were put forward for eviction.
ITV made £7.8million from uncounted votes from the programmes involved.
Jai McDowallOn 10 June 2011, Jai McDowall, the Britain's Got Talent winner, had still not been given a recording deal, almost a week after winning the TV contest.
Jai said: “Simon Cowall spoke to me after the final but said he is very busy with American X Factor at the moment."
Simon Cowall is the music mogul in charge of 'Britain's Got talent'.
In the past has wasted no time in signing up the winners from Britain’s Got Talent.
In 2007, Paul Pott was given a record contract within 48 hours of winning the contest.
In 2009, Susan Boyle, runner-up in the contest, got a deal within five days.
JAI MCDOWALL YET TO BE SIGNED
Maisie
Ronan Parke
