Guys record interests me, at least. 178-19-2, with 118 knockouts over the course of a 20 year career. Pretty... weird among modern fighters. Like Strickland but with a positive record. Anyone know anything about him?
He used to be on ESPN all the time. I mean ALL the time. He'd take a bout, do his thing, get his check, drive in his Honda Civic with about 200,000 miles on it to the next place he was fighting, do his thing there, and keep on going. His opposition was almost all clubfighters, and when he did step up in class usually lost, but most of those losses came at the end of his career. I seem to remember him being something like 98-4 at one point.
He Beat the Man who Beat the Man, Kirkland Laing danced rings around a subdued lathargic Duran for a great upset Victory, Kirk on his night was a very talented hard man to beat. He has a bout with Buck Smith, Kirkland thinks it is a marking time rust shedder, on the way to better things, starts to make Buck miss ans show some distain for Bucks Honest Efforts, then Bam Buck Finds Kirks Chin with a haymaker for a shock KO victory, probably, given the natural talent of Kirk, one of Bucks top Victories.
buck turned pro without any amateur experience. he was at an oklahoma show when they need a substitute for some opponent. buck, who had never ever boxed before, stepped in against a guy called ali smith in a four round bout. he had to compete in streetshorts and basketball shoes. he lost the decision....but had the lung to last four rounds. that got him hooked. he then fought about every week, mostly in the midwest against mostly bull**** opposition. so he built up a fantastic record. and that served the purpose to get him a few big fights. people figured he was just another clubfighing bum from the mid west..........but buck pulled some surprises. as already mentioned, he knocked out kirkland laing. but he also managed to ko olympic gold medalist robert wangila in two rounds in 92. that got him featured in ring magazine and ranked number 13 in the world by the WBC. at one point in time, his record stood at 125-2-1. he shared a house with his manager and infamous meatpacker sean gibbons. he didnt have a trainer and he trained in the backyard of that house. what was once a childrens swing served as a stand for bucks heavybags. everything was makeshift. also, he says that for his first 100 pro fights he didnt earn more than 20.000 dollars. when critizised for his lack of quality opposition, buck once said the following: "while others fight a bum a month, i fight three or four". at his best, he was a fringe contender. he just didnt have the talent to go to that next level. but think about it: For a guy who basically came of the street with no amateur background, it aint bad to ko an olympic gold medalist.
