Jimmy Young - best journeyman ever?

[TheBoxingXpert]

Say what you want, but if you lost more than 33% of your fights, then you're a journeyman, end of story. And Jimmy Young collected losses like it was the purpose of his career. The thing is, though, this losing machine ended up beating good fighters like Gordon Racette, Ron Lyle, George Foreman and arguably even Muhammad Ali (their fight could very well have been a draw, IMO). He was inconsistent. One day, he could be beaten up by random taxi drivers and the other day, he could beat up the best of the best. Are there any cases similar to this? Is Jimmy Young the best journeyman ever? A lot of factors indicate that.

[soul_survivor]

I'm conflicted about this one. Is Young a journeyman or a fringe contender? The guy was put in against Shavers in only his 11th pro fight and matched tough from the get go. In my opinion, his showings against Shavers (rematch) Lyle, Foreman and Norton all elevated him to above journeyman level.

Then again, he did have some losses to horrendous fighters.

It's a tough call, I think I'll go with fringe contender.

[Eff Pandas]

I honestly have trouble considering a guy a journeyman who's been world ranked. I mean you can be a journeyman & become a contender & you can be a contender & turn into a journeyman, but I have a hard time seeing Jimmy Young as overall a journeyman type guy just cuz of his record.

[TheBoxingXpert]

Well, at least we can all agree on him being pretty inconsistent. He is certainly an interesting boxer. I have seen a similiar case with Glen Johnson, who also had some good wins among the losses over the years.

[New England]

Well, at least we can all agree on him being pretty inconsistent. He is certainly an interesting boxer. I have seen a similiar case with Glen Johnson, who also had some good wins among the losses over the years.

glen johnson won fighter of the year in '04... he was lineal champion of the world. the champoin of the world isn't a journeyman.


he may have started [and ended,] his career as a journeyman, but once you make your way into contention, and become a lineal champion, you are a contender and a champion forever.

[Swatty]

Journeymen don't beat George Foreman in his prime. He was matched tough early and had losses at the end of his career when he lost his desire after being ripped off with bad decisions like Ossie Ocasio and Earnie Shavers, basically abandoned training and was just fighting for a paycheck. A truly great fighter, one of the best from Philadelphia.

Say what you want, but if you lost more than 33% of your fights, then you're a journeyman, end of story. And Jimmy Young collected losses like it was the purpose of his career. The thing is, though, this losing machine ended up beating good fighters like Gordon Racette, Ron Lyle, George Foreman and arguably even Muhammad Ali (their fight could very well have been a draw, IMO). He was inconsistent. One day, he could be beaten up by random taxi drivers and the other day, he could beat up the best of the best. Are there any cases similar to this? Is Jimmy Young the best journeyman ever? A lot of factors indicate that.

[TheBoxingXpert]

Was Young also robbed against Ken Norton? I never saw that fight.

[TheBoxingXpert]

glen johnson won fighter of the year in '04... he was lineal champion of the world. the champoin of the world isn't a journeyman.


he may have started [and ended,] his career as a journeyman, but once you make your way into contention, and become a lineal champion, you are a contender and a champion forever.

Well, in that case, then Johnson and Young are probably what should just be referred to as "very inconsistent champions".

[chirorickyp]

He had no power, never really dominated rounds in any of his "close" matches.
His fights made Chris Byrd or Floyd look like all action fighters.
He was a good defensive fighter who made opponents look bad. That's it.

[IronDanHamza]

Wouldn't consider Ellis a journeyman.

Best journeyman ever would be Cocoa Kid for me. If he is to be considered a "journeyman".