Editing BoxRec

{{short description|Website providing records of professional boxers}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox website
| name = BoxRec
| logo = BoxRec.jpg
| logo_size = 200
| url = {{URL|https://boxrec.com/}}
| commercial = Yes
| type = [[Boxing]], [[sports]]
| registration = Required
| owner = John Sheppard
| author = John Sheppard
| current_status = Active
}}

'''BoxRec''' or '''boxrec.com''' is a [[website]] dedicated to holding updated records of [[professional boxing|professional]] and [[amateur boxing|amateur]] boxers, both [[List of male boxers|male]] and [[List of female boxers|female]]. It also maintains a [[MediaWiki]]-based [[encyclopedia]] of boxing.

The objective of the site is to document every professional boxer and boxing match from the instigation of the [[Marquess of Queensberry rules|Queensberry Rules]] up to the present times. BoxRec publishes ratings for all active boxers and all-time ratings.<ref name="BoxRec Ratings">{{cite web |author=Boxrec |title=BoxRec Ratings |url=http://www.boxrec.com/ratings.php |access-date=13 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060508221926/http://boxrec.com/ratings.php |archive-date=8 May 2006 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Since 2012 the site has hosted [[Barry Hugman]]'s History of World Championship Boxing.

==Foundation==
The site was founded by John Sheppard, an [[Englishman]]. Sheppard had never attended a boxing bout until 1995 when he attended a [[Naseem Hamed|"Prince" Naseem Hamed]] fight with Hamed's older brothers Riath and Nabeel. Sheppard had considered boxing to be a "barbaric and degrading" spectacle, stating "I sat there watching people punch each other in the head, wondering why they were doing it... I was sprayed with blood, getting more and more miserable." However, Sheppard later explained, "[D]uring Naseem's fight, something clicked in my head. The subtlety of what he was doing, the genius of it all, became obvious to me. It wasn't a disgusting spectacle anymore. It was art, and I found myself cheering."<ref name="Indispensable Website"/>

Following Hamed's split with [[Frank Warren (promoter)|Frank Warren]], Sheppard went to work for Hamed at "Prince Promotions" in 2000. Sheppard then began to compile record of active British boxers in an attempt to aid matchmaking of boxers and then decided to create a website which would store the records of all boxers. The site has grown so much that Sheppard has gone full-time since 2005. {{asof|December 2008|post=,}} on a typical day 50,000 visitors could view 700,000 pages with the record of 1,300,000 bouts in its database encompassing 17,000 active and 345,000 non-active fighters.<ref name="Indispensable Website"/>

==Organization==
The website is updated by volunteer editors from many countries around the world. Each editor is assigned a country or in some instances, regions within countries and they maintain the records for boxers in that country or region. BoxRec also rates each active fighter by weight division.

==Criticism of the website==
{{anchor|Inaccurate records of boxers}}
{{update|section|date=March 2018}}
BoxRec has been criticized for not keeping correct records for boxers, especially historic fighters.<ref name="Indispensable Website"/> In 2005, BoxRec applied to become recognized as the official record keepers for the [[Association of Boxing Commissions]] (ABC).<ref name="ABC">{{cite web |title=ABC renews contract with Fight Fax |work=Hot Boxing News |url=http://www.hotboxingnews.com/NEWS2005/news080505fightfax.htm |date=21 July 2008 |access-date=18 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724231405/http://www.hotboxingnews.com/NEWS2005/news080505fightfax.htm |archive-date=24 July 2008}}</ref> The ABC held interviews with both Fight Fax and BoxRec at their 2005 convention. Each applicant made a submission and presentation to the ABC panel which included [[state commissioner]]s and attorneys. The panel then voted unanimously in favour to award Fight Fax the position. The ABC later revealed that they had performed tests to measure the accuracy of each company's records: Fight Fax's records were shown to be 100% accurate, while the accuracy of BoxRec's records was found to be "substantially lower".<ref name="ABC"/> Nonetheless, in 2016 the ABC voted to recognize Boxrec as an official record-keeper alongside Fight Fax.<ref name="ABC 2016">{{cite web |title=ABC Minutes 2016 Las Vegas |work=Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports |url=http://www.abcboxing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/2016_minutes.pdf |date=1 August 2016 |access-date=1 August 2016}}</ref>

Boxing promoter [[J. Russell Peltz]] stated "very few things in life are one hundred percent. But I've come across some glaring errors at BoxRec, mostly in the historical records." [[ESPN]]'s Dan Rafael noted that "so many people have a hand in BoxRec that the records aren't always accurate. [[Ricardo Mayorga]]'s record has been wrong for years. There's a mistake [in] [[Derrick Gainer]]'s record too."<ref name="Indispensable Website"/>

==Plaudits from boxing personalities==
When asked how important BoxRec was to him, [[boxing promoter]] [[Lou DiBella]] stated that "anyone in boxing who says he doesn't use BoxRec is either a complete imbecile or lying" and Bruce Trampler, the matchmaker for [[Top Rank]], said that "short of actually being at a fight, they're the best source of information out there."<ref name="Indispensable Website"/>

Boxing journalist [[Thomas Hauser]] also asked the chairman of the [[New York State Athletic Commission]] Ron Scott Stevens what his thoughts were, and Stevens was quoted as saying "Fight Fax is the mandated record-keeper for athletic commissions in the United States. But BoxRec does more than supplement Fight Fax. In many respects, it surpasses Fight Fax."<ref name="Indispensable Website">{{cite web |first=Thomas |last=Hauser |title=Boxrec.com: Boxing's Indispensable Website |work=SecondsOut.com |url=http://www.secondsout.com/Columns/index.cfm?cs=26706&ccs=208 |date=21 July 2008 |access-date=18 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119233523/http://www.secondsout.com/Columns/index.cfm?ccs=208&cs=26706 |archive-date=19 November 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[David Haye]], when commenting on what was then his only professional loss at the time, stated<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ironlife.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1400125 |title=Ironlife.com |publisher=Ironlife.com |access-date=28 November 2011 |archive-date=29 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929045110/http://www.ironlife.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1400125 |url-status=dead }}</ref> <blockquote>
I'd love to get revenge over [[Carl Thompson (boxer)|Carl Thompson]], I know I have improved and made the adjustments required, but still, I take a look at my record at BoxRec and I see this red blob there, that one loss there really does stick out at me.
</blockquote>

== WBA ==
Boxrec announced that, as of August, 2024, the webpage no longer recognizes [[World Boxing Association]] world championship fights as being for world titles and WBA world champions as having been world champions, at least as far as their WBA championships are concerned.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2024/08/10/boxrec-wba-dropped-recognition-wbn-similar/ | title=Boxrec drops WBA title recognition as WBN considers similar | date=10 August 2024 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://boxrec.com/}} {{registration required|nolink=y}}

{{Boxing}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boxrec}}
[[Category:Boxing websites]]
[[Category:MediaWiki websites]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2005]]
[[Category:Sports databases]]