A look at boxing’s ultimate survivors

BRUCE ‘The Mouse’ Strauss, Kevin Johnson and Peter Buckley had a total 497 registered fights and they were never paid to win. 

They did win, not all the time, but they nicked enough decisions and took fights that they had to win. In the end, they won 146 times between them. You see, not all so-called journeymen boxers lose 47 on the spin.

They were Kings of their art, and it is an ancient and dignified art in the boxing business. They are survivors, journeymen to some, losers to others. In short, they are an essential part of the business. Some lose a lot; some win nearly as many as they lose.

Last Friday at York Hall, there were some fantastic cameos from men carrying on the great and mixed tradition. In short, they accept fight after fight and know they have no chance of winning.

At York Hall – in what must surely be the last steamy and humid night at the venue until next summer – Ezequial Gregores, Darwing Martinez, Joshua Ocampo and Angel Emilov all lost in different ways. They were a great mix of the old surviving art; an odd mix of courage, humour and a determined will to not get battered.

Ocampo has lost his last five this year in Britain and has, officially, not won a round. On Friday night he made Christian Fetti work. It was Fetti’s second fight, it was Ocampo’s 41, but it was a one-sided fight that a boxer could learn from.  

In 2022, Ocampo made Brad Foster work, last year he made Niall Farrell and Michael Gomez Jr work and think. Ocampo is from Colombia, but he is based for working reasons in Spain. There seems to be villas all over Spain packed with fighters from South and Central America. They mostly fight in Britain, but pop-up all-over Europe. 

Charlie Hickford has the greatest hair in British boxing, and he can fight; Martinez pushed him in all four rounds, nicked one and gave Hickford an education over four rounds. The hair just about stayed in place.

Martinez has two more fights ready and will be back at York later this month and then he’s off to Italy next month. He lost for the 23rd time in 33 fights, but he can fight, make no mistake. He is slick, fun to watch. He is originally from Nicaragua, but he is also based in Spain.  

Joshua Frankham was back at York Hall and had to beat another tough, awkward and determined loser. He did the same thing just about three weeks ago. He won every round against Emilov but was cut in the last and it needed four stitches.

Emilov has now lost 57 of his 71 fights and he is an old-fashioned spoiling survivor. He is better than the dreadful Latvians and Polish and Hungarian losers who dominated a decade or so again. He’s good at his game, but harder to watch than some of the South Americans. Martinez has a bit of flare; Emilov just wants to get out, get his money and get on the plane home. He’s a Bulgarian hardman and has only been stopped twice in 57 defeats – that is a good figure. 

Emilov has been fighting and losing to unbeaten British boxers for 10 years – right now at middleweight, there are 127 active British boxers. It seems mad that importing a man is easier and cheaper than hiring a kid from Hartlepool. I know that it is, and that is even crazier. Frankham can fight, make no mistake; Emilov only does what he needs to do to move on and get another payday.

Gregores looked sharp, quality clobber. Men like Strauss fought in whatever was available; often trying on multiple discarded gumshields to find the one that fit best and borrowing sweaty boots. Strauss always tells tales like that, but Gregores was impeccable. Carl Frampton and I chuckled at his smart gear – he entered the ring with two wins in 18 fights but was dressed like he was 18 and zero. I like that swag.

Gregores is from Argentina but, like the others, he is based in Spain. There are British matchmakers with houses packed with foreign fighters; they rotate in and out and it saves on travel and documents. The old Peacock gym – fast becoming a mythical place because of the crazy stories – in Canning Town had a triple-bed bunkhouse above the gym and at one point there were boxers from 10 countries kipping up there; Garry Delaney had his training camp for his David Haye fight up there. Some of those fighters were the greatest of journeymen with a real burning hunger.

It was a very good six rounds of boxing for Cairns; a fight where winning easily is disguised by just how hard it was.

Watching Gregores in his fine clothing reminded me of all the Eighties and Nineties fighters from American and Mexico that Mickey Duff and his partners imported for nights of glory at Wembley and the Royal Albert Hall. Some were the sport’s finest journeymen, and it meant something very different back then. Anyway, they would get in the ring with brand new Lonsdale shorts on. They all seemed to have a new pair of Lonsdale shorts on. 

I have always wondered if somebody from the BBC complained to Duff and said that the losers all look like they are wearing a dirty pair of underpants. It was true, the old shorts were filthy. There was one other thing about journeymen back then and it always made me turn to Steve Lillis and laugh; their cornermen so often wore jeans and cowboy boots. That is a combination that seldom led to victory.

The Strauss would have been happy with a few of the losers at York Hall last week.

Steve Bunce. Around the World in 80 Fights: A Lifetime’s Journey to the Heart of Boxing. Headline Publishing. Out September 12.