Trivia!

On December 18, 1999, the great Julio Cesar Chavez, having racked up a record of 103-4-2, faced a fighter who, until he retired in 2003, held the record of having SCORED THE MOST NUMBER OF KNOCKOUTS AMONG (then) ACTIVE BOXERS. The name? Buck Smith. Climbing the ring with 178 wins, 14 losses and 2 draws, Smith, who fought out of Oklahoma, also strung up 118 stoppages. He was TKOd by Chavez in 3. That win was sandwiched by JCC's losses to Willy Wise and Kostya Tzyu. Some two months earlier, Smith met Antonio Margarito in Forth Worth, TX, and was taken out in the 5th. Tony thus chalked up win number 19 to 3 losses. Smith, out of his total of 221 fights by career's end (last fight, May 31, 2003, vs. Jorge Kahwagi in Tijuana, MX.), never fought for a world title of some type, but once: the WBU Welterweight version, against Garry Murray in South Africa in1995. He lost, UD 12. In a solitary regional title bid (USBA), he lost to Kevin Pompey in NY, UD 12. Smith's favorite foe was Reggie Strickland, whom he faced about half a dozen times; winning by UD or on points, each time. Strickland had 363 fights, of which he lost 276. His last bout on record was in October 2005 in IN. He lost that too. But, he's one stubborn customer: he was stopped only about a dozen times. His manager of record is Richard Christmas. Curiously, Strickland had more title fights (of some type or other) than Smith: 1. Indiana State Middleweight title (won over Tim Bryan, UD), 2. Indiana State Middleweight title (won over Ruben Ruiz, UD), 3. Indiana State LightHeavyweight title (lost to Nick Cook, UD), 4. NABC Super Middleweight Title (lost to Warren Moore, UD), 5. NABC Great Lakes Super Middleweight title (vs. Robbi Tovar, D).