This is why you take into account their entire careers. Plenty of great fighters have gone onto long loosing streaks. But do you regard them as the champions they once were, or the journeymen they became? In general a journeyman never gets to the point of winning a title, or even contending for one. Usually those who ae good enough to get to a title shot end up being gatekeepers. Gabe Rosado fills the mold of a gatekeeper.
More like a gatekeeper in his later years. He was a legitimate top 10 contender for a long time and should have been the champion. Herrera ate journeymen for breakfast.
Peter Buckley https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/3372 Kristian Laight - rarely stopped goes the distance nearly all the time https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/216597 Not as well known as some of the others but fair play to em for keeping the sport going at lower levels. Back in the day Ben Tackie was a durable tuff guy who didn't wasn't a top tier guy but went the distance with Kosta, Hatton and a few others and was rarely stopped.
One guy who had fought many great heavyweights, I think never won against any of them and never lost by KO is Marion Wilson.
Khomitsky is another shout. Tough as nails and took many a British fighter out if they weren't up to snuff
Buck Smith. 180 wins, 20 losses. Was around in the 80s and 90s. Never got near a world title. Fought mostly stiffs. Did box a few big names and lost to them all.
Final pick for me is William Warburton. He is more of an domestic entry-level journeyman but if he fancies the job he can beat decent fighters. A couple of years ago he was operating at about English title level when he wanted to.
Smith did beat Laing. It’s probably his best win. I remember Smith for his losses to Chavez, Breland and McGirt. However most of his opponents were very low level and inexperienced guys.
1. Marion Wilson (damn near everyone at HW from a certain era is on his resume, and I don't think he was ever stopped). 2. Darnell Boone 3. Emmanuel Augustus I'd say Glen Johnson, but he actually grabbed a belt so I don't consider him a journeyman.
For me there is only one answer. James J. Braddock. Amazed he has not been mentioned on this post. At one point in his career he had an 11–20–2 (.364) run from 33 fights. The "Cinderella Man" turned his career around big time and was the World Heavyweight Champion from 1935 to 1937.