BoxRec

What your take on it and what are excuses you guys heard from that are part of your guys reasoning on it?

You only ever hear excuses from the loser, never the winner. But the fact is no fighter has a 100% perfect camp especially with injuries as all fighters are likely carrying some sort of issue into a fight. We all have bias though so when a fighter you like has a loss and comes out with excuses we are more likely to believe these over someone we don’t like.

pretty much agree with that. Everyone has personal problems in their lives. Most excuses, are lame. It's always funny how people can make excuses for their fighters, (whether or not the fighter himself made those excuses) but completely ignores the opponents.

i.e, their guy has 17 losses and there is an excuse for almost all of them. However, they just assume that their opponents were all at 100% for every single fight.

Obviously, there are legitimate "excuses". but not usually. The "past his prime" one is sometime legit, often not. The rest are usually lame.

where do you draw the line between a valid reason that a fighter lost, and an excuse?

like, let's say a fighter really hurt their shoulder, and it stopped them from throwing their best punch. and they think this contributed to their loss. if they are asked why they think they lost, is it an excuse to mention the shoulder?

I don’t like excuses for anything personally. Ya get beat , shake the guys hand and move on. Ya win, shake the guys hand and move on. Sore hand, personal problems, sick, locust swarm, whatever it is, it’s on you. Own it.

thinking a certain factor contributed to a loss doesn't mean you dont accept the loss, or that you dont move on, or that you dont give the other guy credit

in fact, being able to recognize what things went wrong is a key to improvement

GordonChen wrote: ↑25 Jun 2025, 16:46 What your take on it and what are excuses you guys heard from that are part of your guys reasoning on it?

An honest excuse such as I was just too old I can tolerate.

A verifiable ring injury that requires surgery not caused by a punch that floors a man is passable to me.

Most of them are poorly reasoned and laughable, and should be filed under" I slipped on a banana peel walking to the ring."

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑28 Jun 2025, 21:32 where do you draw the line between a valid reason that a fighter lost, and an excuse?

like, let's say a fighter really hurt their shoulder, and it stopped them from throwing their best punch. and they think this contributed to their loss. if they are asked why they think they lost, is it an excuse to mention the shoulder?

I guess it depends, you can often tell when a fighter isn’t using an arm due to an injury. Danny Williams when his shoulder went for example. Haye’s ankle going on him against Bellew clearly had a big impact on him too. But it’s when someone gets beat and starts coming out with various reasons why they lost even though they seemed ok in the fight but just got beat, that’s when it annoys me.

From an individual in life... I think it best to keep it to yourself.

In terms of analysing boxing and boxing history then they are fascinating. Some hold water. Others do not.

Controversial wrote: ↑29 Jun 2025, 16:51

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑28 Jun 2025, 21:32 where do you draw the line between a valid reason that a fighter lost, and an excuse?

like, let's say a fighter really hurt their shoulder, and it stopped them from throwing their best punch. and they think this contributed to their loss. if they are asked why they think they lost, is it an excuse to mention the shoulder?

I guess it depends, you can often tell when a fighter isn’t using an arm due to an injury. Danny Williams when his shoulder went for example. Haye’s ankle going on him against Bellew clearly had a big impact on him too. But it’s when someone gets beat and starts coming out with various reasons why they lost even though they seemed ok in the fight but just got beat, that’s when it annoys me.

What are the worst excuses you heard outside of wilder list top 10 for boxers worst excuses excluding wilder since we know where he ranks in

A few to consider:

A guy losing because he wore contacts and couldn't see well after being hit.
Other guys trunks were too high.
Only had 5 months to train.
Trainer should not have stopped the fight even though there was no chance of winning.

Of course, there have been countless cases of a bad decision that really was fair.

Was it Tommy hurricane Jackson who said he inhaled too much oxygen doing roadwork after losing to somebody? Maybe Floyd? I think Manny Steward was terrific, but he went on a little after Hearns lost to Ray.
The important thing to really remember about excuses in boxing and life. Nobody gives a f..k.

I think excuses are important for these guys' psyche. They have to think something was off, and they could've done something better, and changed the result otherwise they'd just have to accept that they're not as good as this other guy, and it would likely be a major blow to their confidence.

This is especially true for Championship caliber fighters. You may see guys make less excuses if they're a journeyman with many losses, and they've come to accept they're gonna win some and lose some. Championship fighters often have a hard time accepting that though.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑07 Jul 2025, 13:30 I think excuses are important for these guys' psyche. They have to think something was off, and they could've done something better, and changed the result otherwise they'd just have to accept that they're not as good as this other guy, and it would likely be a major blow to their confidence.

This is especially true for Championship caliber fighters. You may see guys make less excuses if they're a journeyman with many losses, and they've come to accept they're gonna win some and lose some. Championship fighters often have a hard time accepting that though.

Great insight. 100 percent true. And you’re right about journeymen. They seem to be honest with themselves too. I saw that fighting on cards with guys like Reggie Strickland. A journeyman can keep a fighter being honest about himself too. Last fight I had I fought one and ate countless punches. I was lucky to escape with a draw. Came on in the last round. I could’ve used the excuse that I ran my bakery route that morning and fought that night. But, the truth was , I didn’t have it like I thought I did. That guy made me be honest with myself.

Making excuses is common for anyone, you don’t have to be a sportsmen. Invariably when stuff goes wrong people look to blame others, not many people own it, put their hands up and say they screwed up, most will look to make excuses / blame something else.

GordonChen wrote: ↑06 Jul 2025, 11:34

Controversial wrote: ↑29 Jun 2025, 16:51

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑28 Jun 2025, 21:32 where do you draw the line between a valid reason that a fighter lost, and an excuse?

like, let's say a fighter really hurt their shoulder, and it stopped them from throwing their best punch. and they think this contributed to their loss. if they are asked why they think they lost, is it an excuse to mention the shoulder?

I guess it depends, you can often tell when a fighter isn’t using an arm due to an injury. Danny Williams when his shoulder went for example. Haye’s ankle going on him against Bellew clearly had a big impact on him too. But it’s when someone gets beat and starts coming out with various reasons why they lost even though they seemed ok in the fight but just got beat, that’s when it annoys me.

What are the worst excuses you heard outside of wilder list top 10 for boxers worst excuses excluding wilder since we know where he ranks in

I don’t know about worst excuse but there’s been plenty over the years, Haye blaming his big toe was cringy.

Don't be knocking Haye. He is one of the best Mythical Fighters of all time.

I think all of us (to varying degrees) tend to make excuses for our favorites and ignore stuff form our favorites opponents and guys we don't like.

Hey sometimes you need the right socks

Controversial wrote: ↑08 Jul 2025, 13:41

GordonChen wrote: ↑06 Jul 2025, 11:34

Controversial wrote: ↑29 Jun 2025, 16:51

I guess it depends, you can often tell when a fighter isn’t using an arm due to an injury. Danny Williams when his shoulder went for example. Haye’s ankle going on him against Bellew clearly had a big impact on him too. But it’s when someone gets beat and starts coming out with various reasons why they lost even though they seemed ok in the fight but just got beat, that’s when it annoys me.

What are the worst excuses you heard outside of wilder list top 10 for boxers worst excuses excluding wilder since we know where he ranks in

I don’t know about worst excuse but there’s been plenty over the years, Haye blaming his big toe was cringy.

I wonder if Haye regrets that performance. Wlad was a great fighter with a welk known achilles heel. Haye was a fantastic puncher with speed and accuracy.

He just didn't roll the dice.

Ezzard wrote: ↑09 Jul 2025, 09:09

Controversial wrote: ↑08 Jul 2025, 13:41

GordonChen wrote: ↑06 Jul 2025, 11:34
What are the worst excuses you heard outside of wilder list top 10 for boxers worst excuses excluding wilder since we know where he ranks in

I don’t know about worst excuse but there’s been plenty over the years, Haye blaming his big toe was cringy.

I wonder if Haye regrets that performance. Wlad was a great fighter with a welk known achilles heel. Haye was a fantastic puncher with speed and accuracy.

He just didn't roll the dice.

I guess so, it was a bit of cautious effort after all his big talk

Controversial wrote: ↑09 Jul 2025, 11:11

Ezzard wrote: ↑09 Jul 2025, 09:09

Controversial wrote: ↑08 Jul 2025, 13:41

I don’t know about worst excuse but there’s been plenty over the years, Haye blaming his big toe was cringy.

I wonder if Haye regrets that performance. Wlad was a great fighter with a welk known achilles heel. Haye was a fantastic puncher with speed and accuracy.

He just didn't roll the dice.

I guess so, it was a bit of cautious effort after all his big talk

There was no way he could win a decision against Wlad without at least scoring a knockdown or two. He just sort of allowed himself to be edged out round after round.

I remember the build up where he wouldn't be inthe same room as Wlad. He sort of psyched himself out of the fight.

List of boxers names of excuses

gilgamesh wrote: ↑07 Jul 2025, 13:30 I think excuses are important for these guys' psyche. They have to think something was off, and they could've done something better, and changed the result otherwise they'd just have to accept that they're not as good as this other guy, and it would likely be a major blow to their confidence.

This is especially true for Championship caliber fighters. You may see guys make less excuses if they're a journeyman with many losses, and they've come to accept they're gonna win some and lose some. Championship fighters often have a hard time accepting that though.

.

Controversial wrote: ↑29 Jun 2025, 16:51

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑28 Jun 2025, 21:32 where do you draw the line between a valid reason that a fighter lost, and an excuse?

like, let's say a fighter really hurt their shoulder, and it stopped them from throwing their best punch. and they think this contributed to their loss. if they are asked why they think they lost, is it an excuse to mention the shoulder?

I guess it depends, you can often tell when a fighter isn’t using an arm due to an injury. Danny Williams when his shoulder went for example. Haye’s ankle going on him against Bellew clearly had a big impact on him too. But it’s when someone gets beat and starts coming out with various reasons why they lost even though they seemed ok in the fight but just got beat, that’s when it annoys me.

What are you list of the excuses that someone seems okay but just got beat could you also link the YouTube videos of them just because I like to see the comment section reaction to those excuses to see if they were ratio in the comments or not?

Lots of guys that get outboxed. Especially back in the day would say stuff like "The guy ran like a chicken" or he "Wouldn't fight like a man" which basically is the equivalent of a grown man whining because his opponent wouldn't stand still and allow him to punch him.