A man named Bill Schutte, a charter member of the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO), once wrote an article he titled "The Phony Boxer Phenomenon." The article was about fakers: individuals that pass themselves off as a former fighter of some renown.
Schutte was inspired to write the article after being introduced to a member of a friend's bowling team, a man claiming to be "Irish" Bob Murphy, a prominent light heavyweight in the early 1950s. Schutte knew that Murphy was already dead, having perished in a car accident. The person claiming to be Murphy -- he liked it when people called him "Champ" -- was bogus.
Schutte subsequently found many more examples of this syndrome, culling some from obits in newspapers.
Years ago, there was a character hanging around the sports book at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas who claimed to be former baseball player Mike Hargrove. He was gone when the genuine Mike Hargrove turned up on the premises to appear on my radio show. Damn. I was so looking forward to introducing them.
I've yet to meet an ex-boxer who doesn't claim to have engaged in many more fights than can be found for him in the record books. I don't doubt him for a minute. In this age of information overload, there are still thousands of lost fights awaiting documentation.
I expect an ex-boxer of the undercard stripe to fudge his record when I ask about it. Shucks, who among us that played sports doesn't exaggerate our accomplishments. If I told you how many consecutive free throws I hit in an intramural league, or how many tackles I made in that JV game, I would err on the high side.
But borrowing the name of a prominent fighter of yesteryear is a horse of a different color. In my mind, people that do this need to be "outed."
Okay, raise your hand if you have first-hand experience with the phony boxer phenomenon.
Schutte was inspired to write the article after being introduced to a member of a friend's bowling team, a man claiming to be "Irish" Bob Murphy, a prominent light heavyweight in the early 1950s. Schutte knew that Murphy was already dead, having perished in a car accident. The person claiming to be Murphy -- he liked it when people called him "Champ" -- was bogus.
Schutte subsequently found many more examples of this syndrome, culling some from obits in newspapers.
Years ago, there was a character hanging around the sports book at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas who claimed to be former baseball player Mike Hargrove. He was gone when the genuine Mike Hargrove turned up on the premises to appear on my radio show. Damn. I was so looking forward to introducing them.
I've yet to meet an ex-boxer who doesn't claim to have engaged in many more fights than can be found for him in the record books. I don't doubt him for a minute. In this age of information overload, there are still thousands of lost fights awaiting documentation.
I expect an ex-boxer of the undercard stripe to fudge his record when I ask about it. Shucks, who among us that played sports doesn't exaggerate our accomplishments. If I told you how many consecutive free throws I hit in an intramural league, or how many tackles I made in that JV game, I would err on the high side.
But borrowing the name of a prominent fighter of yesteryear is a horse of a different color. In my mind, people that do this need to be "outed."
Okay, raise your hand if you have first-hand experience with the phony boxer phenomenon.
The Phony Boxer Phenomenon
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