In this day and age it is all too common for boxing fans to be over critical of losses on a boxer’s record, particularly when it comes to past greats from another era when boxing was quite different.
In part, the mega-success of quasi-retired superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr in recent years has added to this. For some fans, losses are considered unforgivable, and this often ignores the bigger picture. But Floyd alone is certainly not to blame – there has always been a stigma in boxing, and indeed in all professional sports – when it comes to achieving an unblemished record. For years, Rocky Marciano set the standard that was frequently cited by boxing fans, when he retired as heavyweight champion with a record of 49-0. Mayweather aided in bringing that to the forefront.
The rise of the internet and social media has also added to this attitude of being overly critical of losses on one’s ledger. With the massive online database known as BoxRec, fans often look for various ways to tear down boxers, past and present, by acting as if the only matches that mattered were the key losses in a career. A lot of times the culprits are troll boxing fans, but oftentimes it’s difficult to discern whether certain posters in the online boxing community are trolls, or whether they actually believe their own nonsense. And this sort of behavior – ignoring the positives while overstating the blemishes – there is a name for this on boxing forums – they are known as “The BoxRec Warriors”.
This edition of Rummy’s Corner briefly explores this modern phenomenon of dismissing greatness on the exclusive basis of attacking the losses on a boxer’s resume. And as a textbook example illustrating the flaws of the methodology of many a BoxRec Warrior, we will mainly focus our analysis on former heavyweight world champion and a member of the inaugural Hall of Fame Class of 1990 – the one and only, Jersey Joe Walcott. Please watch and enjoy the video for one man’s opinion.