HW Noel Quarless (19-12 with 11 KOS) maybe a level above a journeyman but had some decent wins. Stopped undefeated Anders Eklund in a round then in his next fight stopped John L Gardner in three. Decent puncher with 7 of his 11 KOS in the first round but vulnerable himself.
Controversial wrote: ↑15 Jul 2025, 18:31
HW Noel Quarless (19-12 with 11 KOS) maybe a level above a journeyman but had some decent wins. Stopped undefeated Anders Eklund in a round then in his next fight stopped John L Gardner in three. Decent puncher with 7 of his 11 KOS in the first round but vulnerable himself.
Quarless is a good shout, although, yes, he was touted as a prospect at one time.
Another from the same era who might qualify is Manny Gabriel. Like Quarless, he seemed to either stop his opponent or get stopped himself. Gabriel actually KOd Quarless in the first when they met and then proceeded to get stopped in his next fight.
I guess it depends on the definition of journeyman. Are we looking at a Nobby Nobbs style journey man with a record of 20-76-12 or are you looking at someone with their fair share of defeats but might have won or fought some kind of title.
He might not fit every definition of a journeyman, but when I immediately saw the thread I thought Ensley Bingham. A man who started his career as a true journeyman, but whose power actually got him to close to the top 10 in the world at one stage, but a fighter you wouldn't tip to outbox at European level.
Controversial wrote: ↑15 Jul 2025, 18:31
HW Noel Quarless (19-12 with 11 KOS) maybe a level above a journeyman but had some decent wins. Stopped undefeated Anders Eklund in a round then in his next fight stopped John L Gardner in three. Decent puncher with 7 of his 11 KOS in the first round but vulnerable himself.
Quarless is a good shout, although, yes, he was touted as a prospect at one time.
Another from the same era who might qualify is Manny Gabriel. Like Quarless, he seemed to either stop his opponent or get stopped himself. Gabriel actually KOd Quarless in the first when they met and then proceeded to get stopped in his next fight.
Is it me or does Moses Itauma look like a young Quarless?
Controversial wrote: ↑15 Jul 2025, 18:31
HW Noel Quarless (19-12 with 11 KOS) maybe a level above a journeyman but had some decent wins. Stopped undefeated Anders Eklund in a round then in his next fight stopped John L Gardner in three. Decent puncher with 7 of his 11 KOS in the first round but vulnerable himself.
Quarless is a good shout, although, yes, he was touted as a prospect at one time.
Another from the same era who might qualify is Manny Gabriel. Like Quarless, he seemed to either stop his opponent or get stopped himself. Gabriel actually KOd Quarless in the first when they met and then proceeded to get stopped in his next fight.
Is it me or does Moses Itauma look like a young Quarless?
A bit, yeah. Quarless was lighter skinned though and his crewcut got rid of what I presume would've been afro hair.
Not sure if he was a puncher but Nicky Boyd had a frightening KO over Brian Wright. It's rare to see someone getting starched to high heavens like this. Timestamped
TheLeprechaun wrote: ↑17 Jul 2025, 20:27
Not sure if he was a puncher but Nicky Boyd had a frightening KO over Brian Wright. It's rare to see someone getting starched to high heavens like this. Timestamped
Decent amateur, was known as a puncher. I don't think he qualifies as a journeyman, though.
Sykes was also a talented amateur boxer as well as a weightlifter that is true. Had he fought in the unlicensed boxing circuit like so many tried to talk him into he would have been head and shoulders above them all including Cliff Field.
However, because Paul Sykes had a horrible drinking problem as well as a notorious temper that got him thrown into prison off and on over the years he basically turned into a journeyman heavyweight.
Kind of a sad state of affairs considering the man was a sparring partner for Joe Frazier at one point when Joe came over to England. Unfortunately he's remembered for being more or less a nutcase rather than a capable boxer.
I don't want to reignite yet another Paul Sykes discussion but Sykes wasn't a journeyman, if anything he was a prospect.
Sykes - for all his faults - represented England as an amateur, should have won the ABAs in '73 (they reckon he was robbed in the semi against the eventual winner, Garfield McEwan) and was then due to turn pro but got banged up again.
When he came out of nick, Sykes was in his 30s so he was rushed. But he was always seen as a prospect. I can't see how Sykes was ever a journeyman, he was always the 'home fighter' until he fought for the British title (which, in itself, isn't a very journeyman thing to be doing).
The only oddity is his last contest where he travelled to Nigeria and got KOd in a round. Lord knows what happened there. Other than that, it was all about trying to fast-track Sykes to the top. Which is the opposite of being a journeyman really.
You know as well as I do just because somebody seems to be a prospect on the basis of their amateur career does not mean that they will have a successful pro career.
He might have been seen as a prospect in the eyes of some but because of his own irrational behavior and piss poor decisions he simply didn't have a successful pro career.
To this day Sykes holds the record for somebody having the least amount of fights coming into a British title match so because he was fast tracked you could argue he was in that journeyman bracket but because of his reputation he was given an opportunity he probably didn't deserve.
And just because somebody is good or great within their own country does not mean that they are good or great around the world. So in the grand scheme of things on the world stage Paul Sykes would have been a journeyman anyways.
The one thing I will give you though is that there are a lot of disparities between the different levels of boxers and the journeyman bracket is the largest field in the sport. I think one could argue that Paul Sykes was a high level journeyman but I don't think he ever was some trial horse or gatekeeper.
John Fury fought in the British title eliminators and he was a journeyman. So it really isn't a stretch to call Paul Sykes a journeyman as well considering he had a handful of fights when facing Gardner for the British title.
Suicide Henry...it's been a long time, and it seems that after 10 years absence of my own you are no longer here, what a shame...it seems you still can't grasp the most basic of concepts when it comes to pretty much anything, let alone boxing..."modern day bare knucklers" remember that thread of yours that I single handedly shut down with my relentless trolling and spamming of your shit? You would have been a journeyman if you had the balls to carry on after your 1 round of humiliation at the hands of J'Leon Love, but you didn't have the balls now did you! You certainly were never a 'prospect' but even a child can see that you can't fight to save your life!
This is always a tough one. A lot will depend on what you mean by 'journeyman'. I have it as the guy who fights countless times a year vs prospects and is brought in to lose, and to be fair, if that is how you want to get your money, it is best not to bang people out. That phone will stop ringing fast
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