By Gav Duthie: For me the most important fighters in a promoters stable are not the world champions, the moneymakers, the punchers or the trash talkers it is the guys who are constantly on speed dial to fight at a days notice.
This is a dedication to some of the best journeyman of the modern era and their role in shaping the careers of some of our best boxers. They make sure the fight cards go ahead dropping everything to compete without any hesitation.
A good journeyman fighter can have many functions. They are rarely great fighters but some of them can punch, some can be awkward and some are extremely durable to give a prospect rounds. Occasionally a good journeyman fighter with a bit of talent can expose a prospect before a promoter invests too much interest in them. Here are some of the best in the last ten year of the unsung heroes who have some great stories to tell.
Darnell Boone 19-21-4 (8)
The only man in boxing who can boast knocking out Light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson and dropping Andre Ward is this man Darnell Boone. He has only won 19 from his 44 fights but only really mixes with top level opponents. He faced Ward at 6-0 and dropped him in round 4. Boone isn’t the most powerful nor skilled but he is very awkward and throws punches at unusual angles. No doubt after that knockdown scare it taught Andre about defence as well as concentration. Stevenson was less fortunate. Boone could have finished Superman’s career with a second round victory. He knocked Adonis out cold when he was 13-0. After some comeback victories Stevenson avenged his defeat in a rematch. Only a few fights ago Boone beat a 10-0 prospect showing he can still expose any flaws in a young fighter.
Zack Page 21-44-5 (7)
Page fluctuates between Cruiser and Heavyweight and normally provides a stern test. Despite his 44 defeats he has only been stopped five times. He is often used as a ‘comeback’ opponent after a long layoff and is always durable. He has went the distance with Mike Perez, as well as Tyson Fury, Manuel Charr, Kubrat Pulev, Juan Carlos Gomez and cruiserweight number one Yoan Pablo Hernandez. He is has a decent win over Mike Tyson conqueror Kevin McBride and would be a useful opponent for any young fighter with a good knock out record looking for rounds.
Michael Sprott 42-22 (17)
My favorite journeyman. A British level fighter who doesn’t pretend to be anything better than he’s not. Being hat he is 39 now his peak era was probably 10 years ago mixing with 3 British failed World title challengers Danny Williams (versus V. klitschko), Audley Harrison (Haye) and Skelton (Chagaev). Sprott has wins over them all. He has won two prize fighter tournaments and always gives 100%. European promoters often use him when their fighter gets to the 10-15 fight mark for a stern test. He has torn up the script many times beating undefeated boxers Edmund Gerber (22-0), Rene Dettweiler (18-0) and Ceniz Koc (21-0). His next fight will be against British prospect Anthony Joshua which will undoubtedly be the Olympic gold medalists biggest test yet.
Peter Buckley 32-256-12 (8) -10
Peter Buckley retired in 2008 after his 300th contest. This guy would fight seven nights a week if needed. He actually started with a record of 6-1-1 but was never going to be a contender. Frank Warren in particular used him a lot and he would rarely disappoint. Despite an unbelievable 256 defeats he was only stopped ten times. Two of those stoppages came against long standing world champions Acelino Freitas and Prince Naseem Hamed. He also took Hamed the scheduled distance on another occasion and he did the same with future World champions Paul Ingle, Scott Harrison, Gavin Rees and most recently title contender Lee Selby. His last fight was televised as a thank you for his contribution to the sport and and Sky Sports show ringside did a feature also.
Epifiano Mendoza 37-17-1 (33)
At 16-0 (16) Ring magazine actually had Mendoza featured as one to watch when he surprised prospect Tokunbo Olajide (17-0) knocking him out in round 1. He did the same again to unbeaten prospect Rubin Williams (19-0) a few fights later. Mendoza never quite had the all round game to make it big in boxing but he certainly has power. He hasn’t been as active as some of the journeyman but he has fought from middleweight right up to heavyweight during his career. If your wandering whether your fighter can take a punch Mendoza will gladly ask the question.
Ross Purity 31-20-3 (27)
He retired a few years ago but is one of only 3 men who can claim to have knocked out Wladimir Klitschko who was 24-0 at the time. Wladimir had dominated the entire fight until in the 11th round Purity landed. He didn’t really catch the younger Klitschko with anything huge but he backed him up to the ropes and after many unanswered punches the referee was forced to stop the fight. Wladimir said that his legs felt really heavy during the onslaught and couldn’t fight back. This should have been a major lesson to him but it took another couple of shock defeats before he adapted his style. Not for the last time (Corrie Sanders) did big brother Vitaly avenge the defeat by stopping Purity also in round 11 a few fights later.
These are just a drop in the ocean of many great men who regularly work full time jobs and box on the weekends. The sport would be nowhere without these unsung heroes.
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