I’m boxing’s ultimate journeyman with 96 defeats who took fight on one hour’s notice after drinking three pints
Johnny Greaves had a unique life as a boxing journeyman fighting a total of 100 times, winning just four of them. Journeyman are seen as a key to the pyramid of the sweet science, giving work to help future world champions and legends of the sport develop and reach the peak of their powers. Greaves’ life on the road as a journeyman was tough, fighting 100 times with four winsPA:Press Association But life as a boxing journeyman is far from easy. It involves taking some real beatings from gifted operators while knowing your own personal career will not equal their heights. Greaves is the ultimate example of this role, working as a full-time painter and decorator alongside his boxing exploits. He had a strong amateur career on the unlicensed circuit but his stint as a professional fighter, which began in 2017, didn’t reach the glorious heights of world level. But his role was crucial as he handed experience to others, stepped in to save events and provide crucial rounds and keep the sport alive. Greaves spoke on talkSPORT’s Hawksbee & Jacobs, ahead of the launch of his book Bright Lights and Dark Corners on May 5: “You can’t stay match fit for 365 days a year. “You have to tick over, a lot of these lads you are fighting have been given three months notice. “They can train and hit a peak, they live the life. Me personally, I work hard as a painter and decorator. “So I’d finish work, you’d get a phone call on a Friday evening saying you’d be fighting Saturday afternoon. “I’ve had phone calls at 2pm in the afternoon and being at the room at 6pm, it is just a question of picking your bag up and going.” His first ten fights as a pro ended in defeat, and there was no looking back from then for Greaves. GettyGreaves regularly lost but was an expert at keeping active even on short notice[/caption] So it was thought, but he delivered a simply sensational moment in his 11th fight, beating Latvian Sergejs Rozakmens to record his first ever victory. He continued on his losing streak fighting over ten times per year, with rare moments of glory. It was the late notice stories which provided incredible moments for Greaves, who once fought at London’s iconic O2 arena on four hours notice after drinking three pints of beer. Documentary maker Adam Darke explained: “At the lower end in small fights, you need a journeyman fighter like Johnny who drinks too much and smokes. “He doesn’t train very much and is painting and decorating by day. “Incredibly he was famously in the ring three hours later having already had three cans of beer. GettyLife was tough for Greaves but he made ends meet to earn a living[/caption] “Johnny wanted the money, but he wanted to fight and did love fighting. “He once even took a fight at a week’s notice and had to lose a stone in weight. But that was him.” After 99 fights across his career, Greaves took a final bow hoping to get a rare victory in September 2013. And incredibly he did after auctioning 500 tickets at the iconic York Hall in east London, beating fellow journeyman Dan Carr. It was an incredible moment which rounded off a brave and important career. There have been health concerns for Greaves, who did find it challenging with his mental health. And he insists for him, it was ‘self harm’, a worrying admission of life on the road as a journeyman. He concluded: “Boxing for me helped me felt like I was achieving something. “Boxing in front of thousands of people, that was very validating although people did take the mickey out of me for my losses. “Look, in a way boxing for me was self harm. But I knew how to look after myself in there. “The 100 fights took me just over four years, I boxed nine world champions.” It is an incredible story for Greaves who is a boxing legend in his own right. Ye he didn’t pick up the accolades and feats that greats such as Floyd Mayweather and Muhammad Ali did, but he was as brave and as game as they come. Follow talkBOXING on social media talkBOXING is now on Twitter and Facebook. Follow us on social media for big breaking boxing news, exclusive interviews and the best bits from our talkBOXING YouTube show. Like our Facebook page HERE Follow us on Twitter HERE Sign up for our WhatsApp channel HERE
Johnny Greaves had a unique life as a boxing journeyman fighting a total of 100 times, winning just four of them.
Journeyman are seen as a key to the pyramid of the sweet science, giving work to help future world champions and legends of the sport develop and reach the peak of their powers.
But life as a boxing journeyman is far from easy. It involves taking some real beatings from gifted operators while knowing your own personal career will not equal their heights.
Greaves is the ultimate example of this role, working as a full-time painter and decorator alongside his boxing exploits.
He had a strong amateur career on the unlicensed circuit but his stint as a professional fighter, which began in 2017, didn’t reach the glorious heights of world level.
But his role was crucial as he handed experience to others, stepped in to save events and provide crucial rounds and keep the sport alive.
Greaves spoke on talkSPORT’s Hawksbee & Jacobs, ahead of the launch of his book Bright Lights and Dark Corners on May 5: “You can’t stay match fit for 365 days a year.
“You have to tick over, a lot of these lads you are fighting have been given three months notice.
“They can train and hit a peak, they live the life. Me personally, I work hard as a painter and decorator.
“So I’d finish work, you’d get a phone call on a Friday evening saying you’d be fighting Saturday afternoon.
“I’ve had phone calls at 2pm in the afternoon and being at the room at 6pm, it is just a question of picking your bag up and going.”
His first ten fights as a pro ended in defeat, and there was no looking back from then for Greaves.
So it was thought, but he delivered a simply sensational moment in his 11th fight, beating Latvian Sergejs Rozakmens to record his first ever victory.
He continued on his losing streak fighting over ten times per year, with rare moments of glory.
It was the late notice stories which provided incredible moments for Greaves, who once fought at London’s iconic O2 arena on four hours notice after drinking three pints of beer.
Documentary maker Adam Darke explained: “At the lower end in small fights, you need a journeyman fighter like Johnny who drinks too much and smokes.
“He doesn’t train very much and is painting and decorating by day.
“Incredibly he was famously in the ring three hours later having already had three cans of beer.
“Johnny wanted the money, but he wanted to fight and did love fighting.
“He once even took a fight at a week’s notice and had to lose a stone in weight. But that was him.”
After 99 fights across his career, Greaves took a final bow hoping to get a rare victory in September 2013.
And incredibly he did after auctioning 500 tickets at the iconic York Hall in east London, beating fellow journeyman Dan Carr.
It was an incredible moment which rounded off a brave and important career.
There have been health concerns for Greaves, who did find it challenging with his mental health.
And he insists for him, it was ‘self harm’, a worrying admission of life on the road as a journeyman.
He concluded: “Boxing for me helped me felt like I was achieving something.
“Boxing in front of thousands of people, that was very validating although people did take the mickey out of me for my losses.
“Look, in a way boxing for me was self harm. But I knew how to look after myself in there.
“The 100 fights took me just over four years, I boxed nine world champions.”
It is an incredible story for Greaves who is a boxing legend in his own right.
Ye he didn’t pick up the accolades and feats that greats such as Floyd Mayweather and Muhammad Ali did, but he was as brave and as game as they come.
