By Gerardo Granados: I was doing a research on a fighter, so I checked his record on a very important web site that perhaps is the most respected of all, and then I noticed that one of the adversaries of the original fighter that I was researching defeated a prizefighter with a lousy record, so I was curious and checked that perennial loser.
One thing led to another and I abandoned my original research to look up for this perennial losers. I did a write up so I wouldn’t have wasted my time doing the research.
I know this issue isn´t new and the hard core fans must know and understand why these fighters were allowed to keep on fighting but maybe the reader will wonder how it is possible to lose so many times and still fans would pay so see them fight.
There is welterweight from Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom; who debuted on 1989 and retired on 2008 named Peter Buckley who fought 300 times with a record of (32-256-12, 8 KO’s), he “only” lost 10 fights by knockout and on 2003 fought a total of 25 times!
When I first saw his record I thought he had fought in the twenties or thirties. Then we have a super middleweight from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; who debuted on 1987 and retired on 2005 named Reggie Strickland who fought a total of 363 times! With a record of W 66(14)-L 276(25)-D17; he had too many knockout losses but he managed to avoid getting knocked out in his last seven years as a prizefighter. And finally there is a lightweight from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA; who debuted back in 1971 and retired on 1996 named Simmie Black who “only” fought 204 times; with a terrible record of W 35(8)-L 165(98)-D4.
Maybe one of these courageous men has already been included in a world record book, can you imagine to have 363 pro bouts in a span of nineteen years or to have 256 defeats with only ten knockouts; or to have 98 defeats by the way of knockout? You must not only need the job but also love to get in to the ring to be able to have such large numbers in your records.
If it was possible due weight issues that these three pugilists were to engage in a mini tournament to decide who was the best, who would you pick to win?
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