GOT TO STAY BUSY!

[Eric the Viking]

This thread is dedicated to world-class fighters who had some incredibly busy careers or stretches of fights in their careers. Let me start the bidding with a couple of greats from not too long past:

Tommy Hearns: fought 26 times in 25 months at the start of his pro career; just 2 went the distance.

Mike Tyson: To start his career, fought 15 times in the last 10 months of 1985 and 12 times in the first 9 months of 1986, before taking a huge 2-month layoff to prepare for his first title shot vs. Berbick. 27 fights in 19 months, won all but 2 by KO.

OK, bring 'em on! Busy, busy, busy! (Think of those hyper announcers that do the voiceovers for the TV fat-blasting pill ads .... like that Zantrax-3.1415926535!!!!!BuyOneBottleForJust$19.95AndYourNextBottleIsFree!Free!Buy!!Buy!!!Yes!!Yes!!!! shit.)

[kick asner]

If you went back and reviewed some of you're old time fighters with a lot of fights under their belt such as Ray Robinson or Archie Moore you would see that they fought quite often, but I am probably not telling you much by pointing this out. Actually Boxrec could be very usefull in a discussion like this to go back and see how often guys fought. I like to do these kinds of searches when I have the time. This would be one topic where the old time fighters would win hands down. I would guess the earlier you go back the busier fighters were.

[Eric the Viking]

Most fighters are pretty busy in their first few years.

Sure, but let's restrict things a bit by sticking to guys who were legit world champs at some point, and had some stretch where they averaged more than one fight a month for (say) 2 years or more. Examples of guys who were busy but still don't make that cut include Roberto Duran and Julio Cesar Chavez (though Chavez was close.)

Here's another one:

Jorge Castro: Fought 19 times in 1988, and 71 times in the first 5 years of his career.

[Eric the Viking]

Going back to one of the greatest of the old-timers:

Archie Moore: Fought 16 times in 1937, 12 times in 1938, 11 times in 1939. The even-more amazing things about Moore are obviously that not only did he average nearly 10 fights a year for over a quarter-century, but he was still fighting world-class opposition right up until almost the very end.

[BoxBuzz]

Going back to one of the greatest of the old-timers:

Archie Moore: Fought 16 times in 1937, 12 times in 1938, 11 times in 1939. The even-more amazing things about Moore are obviously that not only did he average nearly 10 fights a year for over a quarter-century, but he was still fighting world-class opposition right up until almost the very end.

Damn...you beat me to the punch here.

[kick asner]

One of the more current fighters I can think of who fought quite often was Harold Brazier. He fought fourteen times in 1987 which I found out with the good help of Boxrec, but I knew he fought alot even without the help of Boxrec because he is from South Bend an area I am quite familar with, and I used to see his posters hanging around alot. Plus South Bend television used to cover him every so often. One thing that makes his record impressive is he worked full time in a body shop while fighting. Very underated fighter.

[barry]

Of late and recent memory the fighters who fight most often are from Mexico, Argentina and Thailand. A few American’s who come to mind are Buck Smith, Marty Jakubowski, and Reggie Strickland…a very active recent British fighter that comes to mind is Peter Buckley!

As to pre-1940…the fighters who fought sometimes 20 times a year are to many to name. Great Britain had possibly the most active fighters of any place and of any time in history during the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s…there was a slew of Brits who fought two and three times a month for ten and twelve years at a time, but pre-1940 most fighters were very active!

[silkov]

A lot of British fighters of that time used to fight every week, sometimes more than once a night... many of them had a lot of unoffical fights in the booths of the time as well as the booths were an 'easy' way to earn some money between offical fights... them were the days!...

[The Great John L]

...but pre-1940 most fighters were very active!

Yeah, the good old days...

[silkov]

One of the things that shocks me about fighters today is how many of them are spent after just a few rounds of fighting... this doesnt just happen at heavyweight but at the lower weights as well... I'm sure this is to do with fighters having so few fights today... you can do all the conditioning you like in the ring but its no substitute for actual fighting in the ring....

[DoubleM]

How about Henry Armstrong? He had 61 fights in a 33 month period between '37 and '40, going 59-1-1 (51) and defending his titles nineteen times against consistently solid opposition!

Check out Armstrong's overall opposition (Hall of Famers are in bold, the rest are contenders). He beat all these men, some of them more than once!:

Barney Ross
Lou Ambers
Benny Bass
Midget Wolgast
Chalky Wright
Fritzie Zivic
Lew Jenkins
Sammy Angott
Baby Arizmendi
Mike Belloise
Petey Sarron
Paul Junior
Lew Feldman
Frankie Klick
Aldo Spoldi
Lew Massey
Billy Beauhuld
Enrico Venturi
Ernie Roderick
Rodolfo Casanova
Ceferino Garcia
Pedro Montanez
Davey Day
Bobby Pacho
Joe Gnhouly
Ralph Zanelli
Sheik Rangel
Al Davis
Leo Rodak
Tippy Larkin
Willie Joyce
Saverio Turiello
Juan Zurita
John Thomas

[The Great John L]

One of the things that shocks me about fighters today is how many of them are spent after just a few rounds of fighting... this doesnt just happen at heavyweight but at the lower weights as well... I'm sure this is to do with fighters having so few fights today... you can do all the conditioning you like in the ring but its no substitute for actual fighting in the ring....

Absolutely. Also has to do with how fighters are trained as well.

[Ezzard]

One of the things that shocks me about fighters today is how many of them are spent after just a few rounds of fighting... this doesnt just happen at heavyweight but at the lower weights as well... I'm sure this is to do with fighters having so few fights today... you can do all the conditioning you like in the ring but its no substitute for actual fighting in the ring....

Absolutely. Also has to do with how fighters are trained as well.

Too much weight lifting and bulking up IMO. I also believe that the drying out thet do must take some of their stamina away.

[The Great John L]

Good post Dec. And many of those that you didn't highlight were pretty damn good as well.

[barry]

>>>I get really sick of people saying that Tito Trinidad had the greatest year in the history of boxing.<<<



That's laughable, but I do not recall ever hearing anyone make the claim...though I'm sure there have been some.

I started a list a couple of years ago of the "Most Bouts in One Calendar Year." I did not really do much work on the list, so there are still a lot of fighters to add to the list, but this is a pretty good start.

I'm not posting my main list which has the wins, losses, draws, knockouts, etc listed for each year as the format on internet forums is horrible compared to the Microsoft word that I keep them in, so I'm just posting the total number of fights for one year, the boxer and the year that he accomplished the feat in. I hope that it turns out alright.

Most Bouts in a Calendar Year
(30+ Bouts)
Compiled by Barry Deskins


TB…Name…………………………Year

58…Ted “Kid” Lewis……………1911
58…Len Wickwar…………….…1934
53…Joe Grim……………………1902
51…Len Wickwar……….………1935
50…Len Wickwar………….……1932
49…Len Wickwar………….……1933
48…Len Wickwar………….……1936
46…John “Unk” Russell……...…1905
44…Len Wickwar…………….…1930
44…Harry Greb…………………1919
43…Young Erne…………………1902
42…Young Griffo………….……1890
41…Len Wickwar………….……1931
40…Len Wickwar………….……1937
39…Young Stribling……….……1928
39…Young Stribling……….……1924
38…Wildcat Monte………..……1924
37…Battling Levinsky….………1914
37…Harry Greb…………………1917
37…Young Ahearn………..……1910
37…Knockout Brown…….……1908
37…Cuddy DeMarco……………1923
36…“Wild” Bill McDowell……1935
36…Young Griffo………..……1899
36…Wildcat Monte……………1923
36…Wildcat Monte……………1933
35…Freddie Miller……………1935
35…Cuddy DeMarco…………1926
35…Jack White……….………1908
34…Dave Holly………………1902
34…Duke Tramel……….……1925
34…Johnny Fitzpatrick……………1933
34…Wildcat Monte……………1929
33…Jimmy Wilde………..……1913
33…Joey DeJohn………..……1947
33…Freddie Miller……………1928
33…Young Stribling……………1925
33…Young Griffo……………1888
33…Duke Tramel……….……1924
33…John “KO” Eggers……………1913
33…Walter Mohr……….……1916
32…Lamar Clark………..……1958
32…Matty Baldwin……………1903
32…Ralph Brady……….……1919
31…James “Tut” Jackson……………1922
31…Dutch Brandt……….……1912
31…“Philadelphia” Jack O’Brien……………1902
31…Len Wickwar……………1938
31…Willie Russell………………1945
31…Willie Houck………………1909
31…Tommy Feltz………………1900
31…Charley Johnson……………1896
31…Willard “Big Boy” Hogue……………1939
31…Otto “Young” Wallace……………1919
30…Knockout Brown……………1910
30…Ernie Maurer……….………1932
30…Johnny Lamar………………1922
30…Johnny Ray…………………1913
30…Cuddy DeMarco……………1924
30…Battling Murray……………1916
30…Wildcat Monte………..……1926
30…Wildcat Monte………..……1931

[silkov]

I get really sick of people saying that Tito Trinidad had the greatest year in the history of boxing. Here's who Harry Greb fought in 1919. He was never much over 165. Champions, Hall-of-Famers, heavyweights and other notables are highlighted. All the no-decisions were reported by newspapers as newspaper wins for Greb:

• Jan 14 Leo Houck W 12
  Jan 20 Young Fisher ND 10
  Jan 23 Paul Samson-Koerner ND 10
  Jan 27 Jacob "Soldier" Bartfield ND 12 Heavyweight contender
  Jan 31 Tommy Robson ND 10
  Feb 3 Len Rowlands KO 3
  Feb 10 "K.O." Bill Brennan ND 10Top heavyweight contender with a big punch
  Feb 17 Battling Levinsky ND 10Light Heavyweight World Champion, Hall of Fame member
  Feb 28 Chuck Wiggins ND 10
  Mar 3 Chuck Wiggins ND 8
  Mar 6 Leo Houck ND 6
  Mar 17 "K.O." Bill Brennan ND 10
  Mar 25 Happy Howard ND 10
  Mar 31 Billy Miske ND 10 Near Hall of Famer at middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight
  Apr 2 Tommy Madden KO 2
  Apr 7 Young Fisher ND 10
  Apr 8 George "One-Round" Davis ND 10 Heavyweight contender
  Apr 25 Leo Houck ND 10
  Apr 28 Battling Levinsky ND 12
  May 6 Clay Turner W 12
  May 8 Willie Meehan ND 10
  May 13 Bartley Madden ND 10
  May 26 Tommy Robson ND 10
  Jun 16 Joe Borrell KO 5
  Jun 20 Yankee Gilbert TK 4
  Jun 23 Mike Gibbons ND 10 One of the greatest fighters never to win a title, middleweight claimant, Hall of Fame
  Jul 4 "K.O." Bill Brennan W 15
  Jul 14 Battling Levinsky ND 6
  Jul 16 George "K.O." Brown W 10
  Jul 24 Joe Chip ND 12
  Aug 11 Terry Kellar W 15Oft-forgotten light heavyweight and heavyweight contender
  Aug 23 "K.O." Bill Brennan ND 10
  Sep 1 Jeff Smith ND 12
  Sep 3 Battling Levinsky ND 10
  Sep 18 Silent Martin ND 8
  Oct 13 "Sailor" Ed Petroskey ND 6
  Nov 17 George "K.O." Brown ND 12
  Nov 24 Larry Williams ND 10
  Nov 27 Zulu Kid ND 10
  Nov 29 Horace "Soldier" Jones KO 5
  Dec 10 Clay Turner ND 10
  Dec 12 Mike McTigue ND 10 World Light Heavyweight Champion
  Dec 15 Billy Kramer ND 10
  Dec 22 Clay Turner ND 6

Here's who he fought in 1923, when he was half blind and a little past his prime:

• Jan 1 "Captain" Bob Roper ND 12
  Jan 15 Tommy Loughran ND 10 Usually ranked as one of the 10 greatest light heavyweights of all time, World Light Heavyweight Champion, Fighter of the Year, robbed against Primo Carnera
  Jan 22 Billy Shade ND 12
  Jan 30 Tommy Loughran W 15
  -Light Heavyweight Championship of America
  Feb 5 Pal Reed ND 12
  Feb 16 Young Fisher W 12
  Feb 23 Gene Tunney L 15 Easily one of the top 3 light heavyweights of all time, easily one of the top 10 or 15 heavyweights of all time, World Heavyweight Champion
  -Light Heavyweight Championship of America
  Jun 16 Len Rowlands KO 3
  Aug 31 Johnny Wilson W 15 Reigning World Middleweight Champion
  -Middleweight Championship of the World
  Oct 4 Jimmy Darcy ND 10
  Oct 11 Tommy Loughran L 10
  Oct 22 Lou Bogash ND 12
  Nov 5 Horace "Soldier" Jones ND 10
  Nov 15 Chuck Wiggins ND 10
  Dec 3 Bryan Downey W 10 Boring but underrated fighter who arguably beat the World Welterweight and World Middleweight Champions in no-decision fights
  -Middleweight Championship of the World
  Dec 10 Gene Tunney L 15
  -Light Heavyweight Championship of America
  Dec 26 Tommy Loughran W 10

Who's ever said that about Trinidad???... noone on this thread!.... :x :x :x :x what you going on about??...