William Lawrence “Young” Stribling was a great boxer who earned the odd distinction of holding a world title for the shortest period of time.
In 1924, Stribling was 19 and was already a contender for the light heavyweight title. The champ was a tough fighter named Mike McTigue. A match was arranged between Stribling and McTigue.
The fight was held in Georgia, Stibling’s home state. Naturally, the crowd rooted for their hometown boy. At the end of ten rugged rounds, referee Harry Ertle called the fight a draw. The crowd turned ugly. Realizing that he might be in danger, Ertle reversed himself and gave the decision to Stribling. Then, when he was safely on a train on his way out of Georgia, Ertle announced that McTigue had won the fight. Eventually, the bout went into the record books as “No Decision.” But McTigue kept the title. Young Stribling held his championship only until the referee was out of danger.
The following year Stribling and McTigue tangled in a return match. Again they slugged it out ten rounds. And once more the bout ended in “No Decision.” McTigue lost the championship that same year to another fighter. And Young Stribling never again won a world title.
From The Giant Book of Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.
https://www.onthisday.com/sport/date/1923/october/4
The referee left on that midnight train from Georgia.
The link suggests that the referee felt pressured by the fight promoters, not the crowd, but no references there either. Could have easily been pressure from both.