YOU think you’ve seen them all?

Tyson chewing a bit of Holyfield’s ear during a brutal fight they’d had a while back. 

Roy Jones hitting a foe that was down on his knee to promptly earn a disqualification.

A referee getting himself chased out of the ring by a boxer gone berserk after being repeatedly restrained from his roughhousing tactics.

Need to know more?

Mayweather knocking an enemy out with two blasts to the face—the blows came in succession when Ortiz, Mayweather’s bird of prey, wasn’t looking.

Referee Joe Cortez compounded matters when he declared Ortiz loser by a fourth-round knockout—after he himself wasn’t looking when Mayweather uncorked the foul shots deemed legal in the odd world of boxing.

Closer to home, two Filipino pugs were in a furious exchange recently when the bell rang ending the second round.

Trouble is, a right straight connected to the face of his rival at the exact time the bell sounded, resulting in a knockout.

When the bell rang, the referee signaled an end to the round—just as the blow found its mark.

The sheer impact of the shot left the poor dude dazed as he lay in the canvass—his handlers were still frantically milling around him when, all too suddenly, the referee declared him out by stoppage.

Barely 48 hours after that fight—or non-fight—Bernard Hopkins was trying to defend his world light-heavyweight title when something more weird than Roberto Duran saying “No mas, no mas” in surrender to Sugar Ray Leonard happened.

After dancing and virtually doing nothing against each other in the first round, Hopkins and Chad Dawson appeared set to mix it up in the second.

Late in the round, Hopkins missed a big punch, his momentum carrying him all the way up the shoulder of the ducking Dawson.

Next, Dawson, feeling as though a monkey was on his back, shrugged Hopkins off.

There appeared like a bit of a Dawson push, and Hopkins fell toward the ropes, left shoulder first.

Referee Pat Russell came to check, kneeling over Hopkins as Hopkins, apparently in pain, pointed to his left shoulder.

Then, shockingly, Russell signaled that the fight was over—even as Hopkins lay on the canvass, still grimacing in apparent pain.

As the crowd booed, Hopkins, who was trying to become, at 46, the oldest fighter ever to win a world title, rolled over—still apparently in pain.

Amid all the confusion, Dawson seemed to already savor his new championship belt, walking to and fro in the ring, snarling back at the crowd that was also booing him.

The referee said Dawson did not slam down Hopkins. He next made Dawson the winner by technical knockout (TKO) since Hopkins was unable to continue.

If that wasn’t as bizarre as Tyson’s greed for ear, what is?

From Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times, these quotes:

Dawson:  “He [Hopkins] was faking.  I’m sorry for the disappointment for the fans.  He ran from me for three years.  I know he didn’t want this fight.  He kept talking about Philadelphia and being a gangster.  He’s no gangster.  He’s soft, he’s weak.”

Hopkins:  “They set me up.  It should have been a no-contest.  The ref asked me if I could go on.  I said I would fight with one arm, if I had to.  Then he just called the fight.”

Russell:  “It was not a foul.  It was a TKO.  Hopkins could not continue because of injury.”

Uh-oh.  Injury resulting from a push and not from a punch, and you call that TKO?

Cortez letting Mayweather steal a win, Russell allowing Dawson to walk away with crime and so, what’s next?

Maybe this: Aguuyong, the referee from Tacurong, declaring de la Hoya loser even before an imagined fight against Julio Cesar Chaves Jr. could commence?  And that’s because de la Hoya was wearing a bra?

It’s gone this low.

Bring back Muhammad Ali, please?

In his time, boxing was in a pedestal, if not a pedagogue.

OK, what about Leonard, Hearns, Duran and, yes, Hagler, if not Benitez, Camacho and Arguello, too, in the lighter divisions?

All were Ali trademarks, almost—fighting pure pugilistic pleasure, faithful to the sweet science of the game.

Oh, wait a minute.  There’s hope.  And he’s been with us all this time:  Manny Pacquiao.

Since he burst into the scene, boxing has definitely, absolutely, regained its old luster, bearings. Samples:

Displaying a soft heart for the fallen, Pacquiao tried to pull David Diaz up from a knockdown in their fight a while back.

And, not wanting to inflict more damage on a badly battered Antonio Margarito, Pacquiao appeared to plead for the referee to stop the carnage.

Yes, today’s fights are not all a farce after all.

Pacquiao, who faces Juan Manuel Marquez for the third time on November 13 (Manila time), takes his to heart with a conviction carved in granite.

Raise a glass for the art of dignity.