King of the Journeymen is the gripping autobiography of Peter Buckley's life
King of the Journeymen is the gripping autobiography of Peter Buckley, a pro boxer who fought 300 times and was a 'stepping stone' for world champions such as Naseem Hamed and Duke McKenzie.
As a boy, Buckley shone as an amateur boxer, but outside the ring he was heading for trouble. He was suspended numerous times from school and sent to prison at age 15 for assault and robbery. Whilst inside, his father died. His life felt hopeless and seemed to be going nowhere. But after his release he turned to professional boxing and things started to improve.
Labelled a journeyman, he fought often and lost often, whilst earning more money than he'd thought possible. Buckley never refused a fight, often accepting bouts at a few hours' notice or after a night out.
King of the Journeymen
The autobiography written by Chris Akers is an inspirational tale of a man tenaciously fighting for a better life. Although he lost more fights than he won, Buckley persevered with his career and attained widespread respect from boxers and fans alike.
From start to finish, it is a brutally honest and forthright story of 300-fight veteran Peter Buckley, a man who, despite setbacks and ridicule, won the respect and admiration of the boxing world.
Read his story to discover:
-How Peter was always a fighter – even before he entered a boxing gym
-The vital influence of his family when he was growing up, and the support they gave him during the hard times
-How Peter’s promising amateur career was cut short when he was jailed for the first time
-What he did to survive in prison as a teenager and his encounters with both inmates and guards
-How a chance meeting with a boxer in a pub set him on the path to a professional career
-His fights with future world champions such as Naseem Hamed, Duke McKenzie and Acelino Freitas
-How a Hollywood film of his life was nearly made
-The buzz surrounding his landmark 300th fight, with media coverage in the UK and abroad, and how he felt in the build-up
Sample:
CHAPTER 1: Charlie Magri’s jab
‘Oh, that was a nice jab from Charlie Magri.’
Me and my brother David would always do commentary when we were boxing, trying out different moves on each other. This was a daily thing me and him used to do in the house in those days. The minute our mom left the house, I’d say, ‘You wanna spar?’ At that point, we would push the settee out, put the gloves on and start sparring in our living room.
Our mom used to go mad when she came home as both our noses would be bleeding. ‘I told you no fighting when I’m out,’ she would shout. But it always happened. The fights between us would start off nice and easy. But they would always escalate. They would turn vicious. I’d hit him hard, then he’d hit me hard and I’d be like, ‘What the fuck?’ Gloves would be torn off and before you knew it, we would be on the floor fighting.
That happened with most of our fights. My mates would tell you that growing up, when I was 13 and 14, me and my brother used to spar. Even though I was a better boxer than him, he was bigger and stronger than me and could punch a bit. If I caught him with a few good shots, I’d say, ‘You prick!’ I would get a broom handle and smack him and chase him with it.
Now we get on really well, but when we were younger, we used to really fight each other a lot. I’ve chased him with knives, cut his hand, and chased him with milk bottles. Just some mad things like that. We never used to really get on until we were older. David wasn’t a bad fighter. He would win two and lose one, but he was always in a good fight. Like me, he liked to have a fight. He would tell you himself that I was a better boxer than him. Even when we sparred I would jab his head off, though he was stronger than me.
Another thing we used to do, as loads of us in the area used to box, is go over the park during the summer and get the gloves on and spar each other. About 20 of us. Fucking loved it, I did. My dad’s attitude to all this was, ‘Ah, they’re just lads.’ But when it got out of hand, he’d say, ‘You’ve got to fucking stop now,’ only because our mom would be doing his head in telling him that he had to do something about it. But my dad wasn’t too bothered about us fighting. He had a big family, so he must have been fighting all the time!
Chris Akers
Peter Buckley has collaborated with Chris Akers to tell his story. Chris has written for websites such as Fight Post, Ultimate Boxing Results and East Side Boxing. As well as reporting on domestic and European title fights, he has interviewed boxers such as Mikkel Kessler, Wayne Elcock, Nathan Cleverly and Maureen Shea. He recently contributed to the Birmingham anthology of the Dostoyevsky Wannabe 'Cities' series. This is his first book.
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