12 Of The Pettiest Acts Of Retribution In Sports

James Butler Jr. had a brief and controversial boxing career in the middleweight division. After an early career loss to Richard Grant, he wracked up 16 straight victories to earn a title shot against International Boxing Federation Champion Sven Ottke. The undefeated German defeated Butler in a unanimous decision in September 2001. 

Two months later, Butler lost another bout to Richard Grant by decision. After barely landing a blow in the fight, Butler removed his gloves, and rather than congratulate his opponent, nailed Grant with a sucker punch. Grant suffered a dislocated jaw and 26 stitches, and Butler was jailed for four months at Rikers Island.

Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the “Harlem Hammer’s” story. After three years out of the ring, Butler attempted to revive his career in 2004. He wound up staying with Sam Kellerman, brother of the sports analyst Max Kellerman, and repaid Sam’s kindness by slaying him with a hammer and torching his home. He was sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison and charged with nearly $40,000 in damages after pleading guilty to arson and voluntary manslaughter.

The Taiwanese city of Taichung was the designated host of the inaugural East Asian Games set to take place in 2019. The city spent more than $22 million preparing for the event, which was supposed to have participants from eight East Asian nations. Unfortunately, a diplomatic spat between China and Taiwan erupted over the proposal to change the name Taiwan traditionally competed under, Chinese Taipei, to Taiwan at the Tokyo Olympics.

The diplomatic status of Taiwan is, to put it mildly, a sore point with Beijing. Most of the world's nations don't officially recognize Taiwan because of pressure from China. Even the possibility of Taiwan competing as… well… Taiwan at the Olympics was unacceptable. As punishment for the slight, the Chinese pressed the other members of the East Asian Olympic Committee to revoke Taichung’s right to host the event. Only Japan abstained.

At the 1992 world junior championships, Kenyan athlete Josephat Machuka was in pole position at the home stretch of the 10,000-meter final after leading for the entire race. Unfortunately for him, arch-rival and all-time distance running great Haile Gebrselassie was hot on his heels. 

As Gebrselassie passed Machuka right at the finish line, a frustrated Machuka punched his rival on the back of his head as the Ethiopian breezed past him. That moment of petulance cost Machuka even the consolation of a silver medal, as he was disqualified. 

Long after the incident, Machuka looked back on the moment of his career he is best remembered for, and while explaining his actions were more from youthful frustration than genuine malice, he expressed remorse for his conduct:

I do regret my actions. I should have handled the situation better. I wish I had the knowledge I have now. I was still young.

He went on to have a moderately successful career, but was completely overshadowed by the man he punched at the finish line in 1992. The two lined up against one another in the 1996 Olympics, and Gebrselassie stormed to gold with an Olympic record, while Machuka finished well behind - in 5th place.

South Korea was the co-host of the 2002 World Cup and made an astonishing run to the semi-finals, besting European soccer giants Italy and Spain before a narrow loss to Germany. South Korea was a heavy underdog in the knockout stage match against Italy, but triumphed after an extra-time winner. Striker Ahn Jung-hwan became a national hero when he scored the win of an extremely bad-tempered match rife with allegations of match-fixing.

Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno was accused of heavily favoring the hosts and made some highly dubious calls. The Italians named a row of toilets after him, but the pettiest ire of all was saved for Korea’s match-winner.

Ahn's contract at Italian club Perugia was canceled by owner Luciano Gaucci, who claimed Ahn only really tried for the Korean national team:

That gentleman will never set foot in Perugia again. He was a phenomenon only when he played against Italy… I am a nationalist and I regard such behaviour not only as an affront to Italian pride but also an offence to a country which two years ago opened its doors to him. I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian football.

When Gaucci reversed his decision and tried to sign Ahn on a long-term deal, the Korean star was unsurprisingly not willing to re-join Perugia. After a protracted transfer saga, he moved to Japan. Italy went on to win the next World Cup.

English football (soccer) legend Paul Gascoigne is a larger-than-life character known for his antics on and off the field. In a 1995 match for the Scottish club Glasgow Rangers, the referee dropped his cards behind the goals. Gazza picked up the cards and ran to the referee to return them, and for a joke he showed referee Dougie Smith the yellow card. The only person in the entire stadium not amused by it was, of course, Smith. 

The referee fumbled with his pockets - forgetting Gazza had just given him the yellow card - and eventually booked the Rangers No. 8 for his impudence. Even opposition players protested at Smith’s complete lack of a sense of humor. Rangers won the match 7-0 and Gascoigne was named player of the year at the end of the 1995-96 season.

Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad is a successful but controversial French middle-distance runner whose medal collection is only a little larger than his rap sheet. Perhaps his most notorious incident came in the aftermath of a victory in the 2012 European Championships. Moments after securing the gold, Mekhissi-Benabbad was offered a gift bag by the event’s mascot, Appy. Inside the costume was a 14-year-old girl. For reasons known only to himself, the Frenchman slapped the bag out of the mascot’s hand and shoved her with both hands. No explanation or apology was ever offered for the incident.

This wasn’t even the first instance of mascot abuse; two years prior Mekhissi-Benabbad shoved another mascot to the ground in the wake of a victory in the 3000-meter steeplechase. He also traded blows with a compatriot in a 2011 incident, though he wasn’t the initial aggressor in that case. He won the European Championship five times in his career, but that really should have been six. In the home stretch of the 2014 final, he was cruising to victory when he inexplicably removed his shirt while showboating to any easy victory. He was disqualified for that stunt and stripped of gold.