The best punch trackers on the market
22nd July 2020
By: BOXING GURU
He is a man you may not have heard of but he sits amongst a list of elite names as one of boxing’s top knockouts kings, amassing 224 professional fights and holding the Guinness world record for the most consecutive wins (without a loss) at 106.
Born on this day in 1965, Buck Smith from Oklahoma turned pro in 1987 without having any amateur experience. His debut in his home town resulted in a points loss against Ali Smith who held a 0-4 record. His next blemish arrived in his 9th fight which ended in a draw. From there he quickly pulled together a 15 fight winning streak before another draw and a loss and now holding a record of 22-2-2.
His record-breaking win streak followed against a plethora of low caliber opposition across a number of states in small hall shows. When challenged on the quality of opposition he was facing, Smith calmly responded: “I’m not fighting one bum a month, I’m fighting three or four.”
His first title fight amazingly came in his 127th bout for the USBA welterweight title against Kevin Pompey, a fellow journeyman but he was beaten easily on points.
While most of his wins came against unknown opposition, he did score a few good results. This included a 7th round knockout over contender and European champion Kirkland Laing (who had previously beaten the legendary Roberto Durán in 1982) and a second-round knockout over 1988 Olympic gold medalist Robert Wangila which earned him a feature in Ring Magazine.
In his career, he fought (and lost) to a list of great names including Mexican legend Julio César Chavez, retired world champion Mark Breland, former welterweight world champion Antonio Margarito, and 2 weight world champion & award-winning trainer Buddy McGirt.
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In one stretch during the early 1990s, he defeated a series of opponents who fought under assumed names. He beat Kenneth Kidd, who fought as Tony Taylor; Rocky Berg, who fought as Rocky Vires; and Tony Enna, who appeared as Tony Montesoro, according to databases of boxers’ records and state regulators.
It is also notable that Buck Smith once fought twice in one day. On May 19, 1992, he fought Marco Davis in Kansas City and won by KO inside two rounds. Less than 3 hours later, he was back in Oklahoma City and won a six-round decision over Rodney Johnson. He is the only man to hold the record of fighting professionally in 2 different states on the same night. He also fought 12 times in one month, winning bouts in Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee, and Oklahoma which he described as his boxing highlight.
In 1995, Smith fought in South Africa for the vacant World Boxing Union (WBU) world welterweight title but came up short against the home favorite, Gary Murray.
Buck finished his record-breaking career with 181 wins out of his 224 bouts (this included a number of co contests). His 120 knockouts puts him 5th on the all-time list behind great names such as Billy Bird (138), Archie Moore (131), Young Stribing (129), and Sam Langford (128).
Despite his long record and huge win streak, Buck Smith never won a title in his career but he was clearly the king of the journeymen in his time, a true fighting man, and will forever be in the record books.
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