[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Peter Buckley retires! By Lisa Scott After going 5 years and 80 fights without a single victory, and losing 249 of 291 professional fights, British welterweight Peter Buckley has decided to retire. The 39 year old Buckley (31-249-11; 8 KOs) began his career as a featherweight in 1989 and has fought (and lost to) such fighters as Prince Naseem Hamed, Duke McKenzie, Acelino Freitas, Scott Harrison and current WBA junior welterweight champ Gavin Rees. He fought all of his 291 fights in the UK and is believed to have more losses than any British fighter in history. However, Buckley has long been considered a savior to any matchmaker in need. According to The Sun, one stated: Pete has been a great servant to the sport. Its easy to look at his record and deride it, but fighters like Pete are British boxings lifeblood. He has taken on many hot prospects at short notice and saved many a promoters bacon. In a previous interview, Buckley has said: Boxing has allowed me to have nice holidays. The game also allowed me to earn a lot of respect and its increased my own self respect. And, its kept me out of prison.[/FONT]
I'm sure all ESB posters would wish Pete a happy retirement. Am I right in saying that he was the first man to go the distance with Naz?
Peter is a gr8 bloke and was a capable fighter.... He once beat Matt Brown British champion and Peter Judson IBF intercon champion. He broke a young Mike Gomez' nose and drew with Sean Hughes fairly recently... Most of this will be lost on newbs but for people who pay attention to the lower ranks he was a decent area fighter and a three time Midland area champion. I'd have liked him to get to 300 but perhaps he's just past the stage where he feels competitive. Last man to stop him was Bradley Pryce in the fight before I beat him.
How could the British Boxing Board allow him to keep continuing after so many losses and fighting under prepared the majority of the time?
Because the way he fights means he takes little damage and hence provides a great service to up and coming fighters without putting himself at (too much) risk .
Where did you find that ? , his record as stated in the original post is 31-249-11 , and he has claimed a few area titles .
The British board allow guys to keep fighting even with substantial losses as long as they are not type of fights where the fighter gets hurt. Peter has done a very good service to the sport. Tony Booth "northern legend" is also calling time on his career after his next fight. Another guy who is very capable and with a lot of fights under his belt. It would be nice for guys like these to get some kind of recognition and award.
Do you know how much do guys like Buckley earn for their fights typically? Presumably they don't become rich, unlike some of the prospects who they're used to test, but as the article said, are the lifeblood of the game fo the young prospects to get their early pro experience from.
he lost to some real tough guys, he coulda stayed at lower levels padding his record, but stepped up. He only lost to the elite, and got robbed at least twice. Same as Chris Eubank who only lost to elite guys.
You presume wrong... Peter is by all accounts extremely well off- Tom Podmore could perhaps answer that more accurately but i'd say he will have gone through serious doe in his career.... especially mid to late 90's.
Wow i didnt even know he was still around! I remember when haye made his debut vs Booth. Back then he was a podgy cruiser.he must be huge by now..
I agree, Buckley used to take hard fights on short notice, frequently to 'save the show' at the last minute after a boxer had pulled out. Its the one situation when a journeyman pro can really turn the screw on promotors and get paid decent money.