In a country where rooting for the plucky underdog is as much a part of the sporting culture as Wembley Stadium, the Lord’s Test and strawberries and cream at Wimbledon, the record of British boxer Peter Buckley takes some beating.
Or perhaps that should be losing.
Yesterday, Buckley was due to step into the ring in Birmingham, central England, for the 300th bout of a professional career that has witnessed 256 defeats.
Buckley, who hasn’t won for five years, a sequence encompassing 88 straight fights, has managed to earn a living as an opponent for rising stars.
In all, 42 future world, European, British and Commonwealth champions have defeated Buckley on the way to taking titles.
But after years of being the equivalent of a “human punchbag,” the 39-year-old Englishman has, not unreasonably, decided to hang up his gloves.
“I’ve had my eye on the 300 mark for a while, and it’s a little milestone I want to achieve, but I don’t want to fight on,” Buckley told the Times newspaper on Wednesday. “People keep saying to me that I’ll get a call in a few weeks’ time offering me a fight and I’ll say yes, but I mean it when I say this is it.”
Given his record, it is tempting to ask why the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC), the governing body for the professional sport in the UK, has not revoked his licence.
After all, were he to be seriously injured his whole career would provide those who want boxing banned, such as the British Medical Association, with easy publicity for their cause.
However, given that Buckley has repeatedly passed BBBC medical tests, the Board has been powerless to prevent him continuing his career. Had they tried to ban him in those circumstances they might well have faced legal action for restraint of trade.
Buckley was not always regarded as fodder for talented opponents. In the early 1990s the super-featherweight won the English Midlands area title.
However, he then found he could make more money as an opponent for those on their way to greater things. Buckley rarely won, but he rarely got badly beaten up either. But with the passing of time and the slowing of his reflexes, he has become easier to hit.
Unlike those tilting at world championships, who go to training camps for weeks or even months, Buckley has been known to agree to a contest just hours before the opening bell.
“I’m always in the gym, so if I get a call a couple of hours before a fight, I usually say yes,” he said. “If you phone up a bricklayer and ask him to build you a wall, he doesn’t ask for three weeks to prepare.”
And whatever else Buckley wants, it’s certainly not pity.
“Boxing has been good to me over the years. When I was a youngster I was in trouble with the police, a really wild kid. But the sport has given me a focus in life,” he said.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to