I came a cross a statistic yesterday regarding the boxer with the most defeats in his career and it is quite crazy. One would think if you suffered enough losses you would call it quits as it is not something you are any good at. However in boxing there is a place for such fighters as they are called "journeymen" or "stone steppers" or an even funnier term a "can of tomatoes".
These tomato cans serve a purpose for any professional starting out on his career as they each offer an experience a new fighter needs to overcome in order to win and move up the rankings. This doesn't say much for these temporary road blocks as they are expected to lose.
One such fighter who holds the record for the number of losses in a career is a certain boxer called Reggie Strickland. Most of us who have followed boxing most likely would never have heard of him before as I haven't. Reggie fought in 363 fights losing 276 of them drawing 17, winning 66 and 4 no contests.
The boxers he managed to beat which most likely would have all been upset defeats most certainly ended any thoughts of those turning boxing into a profitable career. Most journeymen earn pocket money and will expect to receive anywhere in the region of $2500 per fight.
Reggie fought in the super middle weight class which was known for speed and power punches so you would have to have some skills to survive. During his 363 fights he fought future world champions who used him to move up the ranking lists. Notably 5 fighters who defeated Reggie went on to lift the world title so Reggie played his part in a number of careers.
Being a journeyman boxer can be lucrative as Reggie estimated net worth is around $5 million for someone who was basically a punch bag. Not a career move I would advise anyone to follow as journeymen will box far more than a successful boxer. Looking at Canelo Alvarez who has had 58 fights in his career thus far has fought 6 x less than Reggie.
Being a journeyman boxer you are always in demand as there is always an aspiring new professional willing to test his skills up against yours. If a boxer who is due to fight and is injured during training normally a journeyman will step in and take his place. They offer a fight at short notice with no training required as they are always active. A title holder will be lucky enough to fight twice in a year as they are more protected by their promoters and have to follow the rules by fighting the next contender/challenger for the belt.
Knowing this we can see how often Reggie fought which spanned 18 years so he was fighting on average every 17 days throughout his career which is a staggering number. This is actually quite remarkable that someone could even do this at this level for such along period of time.
When Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson in the shock upset he was regarded as a journeyman who posed no threat to Tyson. This shows a journeyman is only a label or name but you still have to take them seriously or you will pay like Tyson did.
