Decent boxers turned Journeymen?

[mickey1975]

Glen Johnson is a world level journeyman. Leon Spinks was a gold medalist/world champion turned sort of journeyman. You could see Del Boy turning in to one if he loses his next fight

Johnson is not a journeyman. Emmanuel August was a high end journeyman if you like. Johnson is a former world champion.

[forcefraser]

Matthew Ellis turned into a tomato can

He sure did. There was a time when he looked half decent, not the first Billion dollar athlete like he was marketed, but a decent prospect all the same.

His problem was that in boxing the other bloke is allowed to hit back and that spelled the end for Ellis. That first loss shook out whatever will he had in him as far as I am concerned.

[spudder56]

Just purchased a load of old boxing monthlys and there is a terrific article about Nobby on there from about 10 year ago. Proper rascal!

x2 I knew Nobby well and yes he was a very well respected character in Birmingham as well as around the boxing scene and yes he was like a social worker in some respects he turned a lot of tearaways into boxers and got them earning money and making a better life for themselves etc and everybody used to say if ever Birmingham produced a real wildman he always ended up at Nobbys Gym at some stage I beleive that Nobby is a carer for one of his elderly relatives nowadays and last I heard he was in good health I send my best wishes to him coz he is really missed in boxing circles

[johnnygreaves]

Kevin McAuley. I think he once won the Midlands Area title, now fighting every week, and losing !

I fully understand the arguments put forward for journeymen ,and some I've spoken to say that as soon as promoters started to realise they were trying to win fights, they dried up .

But, fans pay good money to see fights and if one fighter isn't trying then this amounts to a sparring session. Ten defeats in a row then they should be suspended and brought in front of the Board.

Of course the REAL problem is that promoters and managers don't want to risk their boxers undefeated records. It's embarassing really, where's the self respect in telling your family and friends that you've had a 100 fights and lost 85 0f them ?

is there no respect telling my kids that although I have no work skills or gcse,s that I've fed & clothed you by sheer hard work,pain& 100's of miles?

[Counter-puncher]

Kevin McAuley. I think he once won the Midlands Area title, now fighting every week, and losing !

I fully understand the arguments put forward for journeymen ,and some I've spoken to say that as soon as promoters started to realise they were trying to win fights, they dried up .

But, fans pay good money to see fights and if one fighter isn't trying then this amounts to a sparring session. Ten defeats in a row then they should be suspended and brought in front of the Board.

Of course the REAL problem is that promoters and managers don't want to risk their boxers undefeated records. It's embarassing really, where's the self respect in telling your family and friends that you've had a 100 fights and lost 85 0f them ?

is there no respect telling my kids that although I have no work skills or gcse,s that I've fed & clothed you by sheer hard work,pain& 100's of miles?

i love you, Jonny

[forcefraser]

Kevin McAuley. I think he once won the Midlands Area title, now fighting every week, and losing !

I fully understand the arguments put forward for journeymen ,and some I've spoken to say that as soon as promoters started to realise they were trying to win fights, they dried up .

But, fans pay good money to see fights and if one fighter isn't trying then this amounts to a sparring session. Ten defeats in a row then they should be suspended and brought in front of the Board.

Of course the REAL problem is that promoters and managers don't want to risk their boxers undefeated records. It's embarassing really, where's the self respect in telling your family and friends that you've had a 100 fights and lost 85 0f them ?

is there no respect telling my kids that although I have no work skills or gcse,s that I've fed & clothed you by sheer hard work,pain& 100's of miles?

Well said Johnny.

[johnnygreaves]

Hahaha.thanks boys! Look the long & short of it is,us guys provide a much needed & used service.were available 52 weeks per year.you can't stay at a physical peak.you get and keep fit & weight down all year against boys that train for 1 particular fight.even then we get days notice.its not a level field and we do our best.why go to war when 2 or 3 other fights lined up.youd just get cut/banned & cost yoursen wages.

[Crepitus]

Does Danny Williams fit the bill as a decent am, very decent pro at times, now in full journeyman mode?

Have you had the pleasure of seeing his last outing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oU0gM19-vs

[flatnoseflynn]

Audley Harrison.

If he's a journeyman, he ain't very good at lasting the journey.

Yes he can.

[expe]

Marc Callaghan was a British title challenger and has just had his license revoked after not winning a fight for 6 1/2 years.

[tear up]

Marc Callaghan was a British title challenger and has just had his license revoked after not winning a fight for 6 1/2 years.

Marc s a top lad give me two of my hardest fight s out of 33 as a pro warrior out British title fight should of been fight of the year stood toe 2 toe for ten rounds

[dalcumly]

Johnny Greaves says that very often journeymen turn up on a few days notice to fight someone whose been preparing for weeks. That's right but it's up to Johnny and others to be in the gym most nights of the week as well. Its only the real top liners who CAN go into camp to prepare.
He also says that he's fighting and feeding his family ,and I respect that , but the fans are paying £30 -£40 out of their family income to see a FIGHT , not a sparring session.
I like the journeymen, I really do , but they are SPARRING partners.

In the 1950's and 60's the late Bob Paget was probably the best known sparring partner in London. He didn't turn professional but cycled from Oxford Street every lunchtime to spar wherever a manager wanted him . He'd be a journeyman today.

[spudder56]

Johnny Greaves says that very often journeymen turn up on a few days notice to fight someone whose been preparing for weeks. That's right but it's up to Johnny and others to be in the gym most nights of the week as well. Its only the real top liners who CAN go into camp to prepare.
He also says that he's fighting and feeding his family ,and I respect that , but the fans are paying £30 -£40 out of their family income to see a FIGHT , not a sparring session.
I like the journeymen, I really do , but they are SPARRING partners.

In the 1950's and 60's the late Bob Paget was probably the best known sparring partner in London. He didn't turn professional but cycled from Oxford Street every lunchtime to spar wherever a manager wanted him . He'd be a journeyman today.

Absolutely correct in what you say mate it doesnt take a rocket scientist to see why punters get upset and vote with their feet -- you can fool all of them some of the time but not all of them all the time but a lot of prospects keep padding their records against journeymen and then they wonder why ticket sales go down when yet again the next fight is against a journeyman

[johnnygreaves]

No , we do train. What I'm saying is that you can't stay at peak fitness all year.theres a difference !i can understand your points of view but while I'm offered the work, ill take it . Taa very much.its boxings problem.not mine.ive deffo only got 3 left and bet your bollocks that ill be trying in every one of them

[The Insider]

No , we do train. What I'm saying is that you can't stay at peak fitness all year.theres a difference !i can understand your points of view but while I'm offered the work, ill take it . Taa very much.its boxings problem.not mine.ive deffo only got 3 left and bet your bollocks that ill be trying in every one of them

Fair play Johnny, Ive loved watching you from the start and i dont think im speaking out of turn when i say if its apparent your not going to win the fight you try your hardest to frustrate your opponent and give him a hard time. Ive seen you in a couple of corners so i presume you'll be taking this road with Frank when you've done your ton? You out tonight?

[johnnygreaves]

That's correct mate.if you can't beat em, drive em mad.that way you have more chance of seeing what's coming when they have the raving arsehole & wanna take your head of every shot.but yeh I'll definitely work with my brother when I'm done.im sure we can get a good thing going

[Wales]

Terry Caruthers is struggling to find fights now due to the fact he actually tries to win.

Im enjoying the BBU unlicenced shows at the moment as every fight involves 2 fighters who both want to win whilst most of the pro shows have a 60-40 main event and then 6 or 7 home fighter v journeyman 90%-10% fights. Sick of guys doing their best to last 4 rounds, or a latvian roadsweeper whos beat 8 or 9 other roadsweepers getting bowled over.

Hey ho, uk prospects have to preserve the 0.

[dalcumly]

To Johnny Greaves , Matt Seawright, Kevin Mc Auley , Sid Razak and Billy Smith. Come on lads give us punters a real boost and go for it in your next few fights . I'm not so certain that your work would stop with a few tidy wins. It would just make the new lads coming in to face you a bit more wary, and thats a good thing for everybody. Give it a go !!!!

[jonp]

Matt has won two of his last three and got a pretty bad decicion in the one he lost.Seems like if they do give it a go nobody notices lol

[polecateddy]

Ossie Duran is a good example. Basically Commonwealth level in the UK, but when he relocated to New Jersey he became a good class journeyman who never gets the decisions anymore.

[Jeff Thomas]

What value is the 0 - it means nothing but at the same time people have to make a living. I think a lot of fights are a waste of time. The fascination of this unbeaten record needs to disappear for boxing to progress.

[lefty]

To Johnny Greaves , Matt Seawright, Kevin Mc Auley , Sid Razak and Billy Smith. Come on lads give us punters a real boost and go for it in your next few fights . I'm not so certain that your work would stop with a few tidy wins. It would just make the new lads coming in to face you a bit more wary, and thats a good thing for everybody. Give it a go !!!!

No it wouldn't it would mean they wont get used as much. Sometimes they're paid by the promoter to do what they are asked to do otherwise they wont be used again

. Plus when they're not asked to do anything they also know the score and know what not to do. Its not the journeymen's faults to a degree its not even the promoters faults its down to the bbbc and all the time they carry on turning a blind eye to it then it will carry on. But on the other hand if they do crack down on it although it would make better viewing for the fans a boxers career would not last half as long and their wouldn't be nowhere near as many pros around. As in the big ticket sellers who fight people who er herm have a move around with them would get beat in 4/5 of normal fights so would soon give up plus they would lose their fan base which wouldnt be good for the boxer the promoter and the bbbc. Even though to a degree boxing at the lower levels is little more then pantomime at times it would be even harder to continue if you took journeymen away. As a fighter It costs around £600 a year to be a pro and home boxers who are poor ticket sellers now quite often box for nothing so if your only having 3 fights a year getting paid very little and only winning 1 of them so the lure of being a pro wouldn't be so great

It just shows what a joke boxing is in a way though and how corrupt it is.

[ShadrachSimmo]

On the topic of Brummie journeymen Anthony Hanna had lost 25 fights and he got a shot at Damaen Kelly. Anyone know how this happened?

[SOUTHPAW]

On the topic of Brummie journeymen Anthony Hanna had lost 25 fights and he got a shot at Damaen Kelly. Anyone know how this happened?

won a couple on the spin i think and@ fly theres not many to fight.....for some boxers its there living.To go in and try to win and they end up getting KO'd theres no money coming in for a month so thats why they do what they do...there never going to win titles but to take an unbeaten kid the distance means something to them so lets not knock em too much

[Coco]

I fought in Belfast on the show when they fought first, Kelly was knocking them all out, Span went the distance and gave him a proper good fight, I think he earned the shot that night.