Peter Buckley, now ten-years into retirement, racked up an astonishing 300 professional fights during his career, including the likes of Naseem Hamed, Derry Matthews, Lee Selby and Duke McKenzie.
And the Brummy admitted he loved every minute of it. “It was great, boxing is my true passion and the chance to fight as many times as I did was just incredible,” Buckley exclusively told World Boxing News.
“I never intended to get to 300 fights but once I got to 293 fights, my friends told me I may as well try and get to 300 before packing it in. But I thought, ‘f*** it, I’ll get to 300.’
“I must have fought the last seven fights of my career in as many weeks – I was then ready to retire,” he laughed.
“Obviously sometimes it was hard to deal with getting defeated, but you have to pick yourself up and get on with it. I also had some great moments in the sport.
“I won the Area title which was a very proud moment in my career. There were also quite a few fights which I received some bad decisions, fights that I could easily have won but was the wrong end of scorecards,” the seasoned journeyman added.
His last bout in the ranks was the fairytale ending he craved, defeating Matin Mohammed on points. It left Buckley with an overall reading of 32-256-12, with eight victories coming via knockout.
LIFE AFTER BOXING
So, a decade on, what is Britain’s best journeyman of recent times doing with his life now?
“I’m 49-year-old now but I have carried on working, doing bits and pieces. I do a bit of work in the trade of carpeting and do other sort of work similar to that.
“Of course, at times I miss boxing, it was great to fight at so many different venues like the York Hall and fought in cities like Liverpool, Glasgow and London. If I could do it all over again, I would do it in a flash,” he concluded.
Peter can certainly look back at his career with acknowledgement that he is a classic example of what it takes to be the ultimate journeyman!
Joe Hewlett is lead writer for World Boxing News. Follow Joe on Twitter @Hewlett95
