by James Slater – Can you name another active boxer who has had anywhere close to 300 pro bouts? Thought not. Well, 39-year-old British welterweight Peter Buckley had has a quite unbelievable 299 pro outings and this coming Friday night the man with the unlikely 31-256-12(8) record will have his 300th and very last fight..
Turning pro way back in October of 1989, and down at 128-pounds, Birmingham’s Buckley drew in his debut, then lost a decision, and then had a winning streak of six fights. This proved to be the longest victorious spell of “The Professor’s” astonishing nineteen year career. Rarely stopped (just 10 of his 256! losses coming inside the distance) Buckley met a veritable who’s who of the featherweight, super-featherweight, lightweight and light-welterweight divisions. Often coming into a fight with barely a few hours notice, Buckley usually tested his opponent and made it to the final bell.
Consider some of the top names Peter took the distance: Johnny Bredahl, Johnny Armour, Naseem Hamed (Naz also stopped Buckley in 4 rounds in a return fight), Michael Brodie, Paul Ingle, Spencer Oliver, Fabrice Benichou, Scott Harrison, Michael Gomez, Bradley Pryce, Gavin Rees, Lee Meager, Scott Lawton and Billy Corcoran. While future world champions Duke McKenzie and Acelino Freitas are among the few men to have ever stopped Buckley.
Most of Peter’s fights took place in the U.K, but on occasion he did travel abroad for a bout. Speaking with The Sporting Life just a few days ahead of what he says will be his final fight, Buckley recalled his long career.
“Win lose or draw, this is definitely my last fight,” Buckley said of his upcoming fight with Matin Mohammed. “I’ve had my eye on the 300-mark for a while, and it’s a little milestone I want to achieve, but I don’t want to fight on. People keep saying to me that I’ll get a call offering me a fight in a few weeks time and I’ll say yes, but I mean it when I say this is it.
“Boxing has been good to me over the years. When I was a youngster I was in trouble with the police, a really wild kid. But the sport has given me a focus in life and kept me on the straight and narrow. I don’t know what I’ll do when it’s all over on Friday, but I’d love to stay in boxing in one capacity or another.”
Though he lost far more fights than he won, Buckley did have some high points in his long career. What was his proudest moment?
“I’ve had a few high points in the sport,” Buckley said proudly. “But my proudest was when I went to Austria and took on Harald Geler for an intercontinental WBA title. He’d been knocking a few people over but he was nothing special and I had him over in the 9th, but I ended up losing on points over 12. There’s been some lows as well and I definitely won’t miss being punched in the face for a living!”
Peter was known for taking any fight, even with just a few hours notice. He claims he is nothing special for having done this, however.
“I’m always in the gym, so if I get a call a couple of hours before a fight, I usually say yes,” Buckley said. “If you phone up a bricklayer and ask him to build you a wall he doesn’t ask for three weeks to prepare. He comes round straight away. Why should a boxer be any different?”
The 31-256-12(8) Peter Buckley; they just don’t make ’em like him anymore!