“Ghost Gloving” – The BUM community of professional boxing

By Scottie “The Context” White

May 17, 2021, The existence of Boxing has reigned over decades as one of the premier global combat sports in the world.  Entertaining an audience who have seen the best and worst performances in its history. “You don’t play boxing,” a familiar term often emphasized as a forewarning prior to lacing up for the first time.

Cogitate the presence of boxing for a moment, a thriving annual sport outside of the recent restrictions from the COVID19 pandemic. Fighters from all over joined this sport with or without any amateur experience for different reasons.  The boxing handbook details an open chapter leaving little to the imagination.  An inciteful enter at your own risk pinches their curiosity, especially those who have never boxed a day in their life. You would assume competing professionally in boxing would demand a strict physical evaluation, alone with a cognitive assessment but it doesn’t!

There are many who will scoff at this requirement deficiency and others will boast of past greats who became champions with minimal training.  But let’s be clear, there is a downside to individuals who sign on just for a paycheck, shadow boxers deemed as no-names, fighters who flood the sport in astounding numbers without any admirations to excel.

From the inception, these underperforming competitors are described as “Ghost Gloving,” Better known as licensed “BUM(S), those secondary bodies in the ring with a face no one remembers.”  The term (BUM) has existed throughout boxing for years, a powerful acclimated term describing a nugatory relevance comparable to promising talent.   “Ghost Gloving” encapsulates the blunt force denigration emphasizing the “Bum” status in boxing.  A broad correlation depicting an active or retired professional boxer.  

When it comes to boxing, I’ve never heard the word “Bum” spoken on by coaches, trainers, fighters or fans with complimentary intentions. Not even the slightest notion of the word will reduce its stinging ferocity in tearing down the Wall Street of a boxer.   

“Ghost Gloving” starts from the license approval, an administrative process required for one to compete as a professional boxer. There is no preset number of bouts required for a person to obtain a professional license, furthermore; let’s say you were a standout amateur elite, the process is the same.  Competing boxers may ignore the existence of “Ghost Gloving” opposition but in reality have fought their fair share.  We identify them as bodies in the ring, they are considered as soft-touch wins for their A-side fighters to build up their professional ledger.  I know it sounds messed up, but the validity is overwhelming.   Quick as the bell sounds in most cases, results are recorded, then to the showers and pick up the check.

 “Ghost Gloving” is a piercing reality attributed to off-the-couch memberships permitted to compete on equal levels of those who have paid their dues.   Boxing short list of requirements are acutely familiar to the promoters and matchmakers throughout the regional footprints. I’ve witnessed a 63 year old boxer approved to compete in his eight professional bout versus an opponent 30 years younger. All the medicals were checked off, fought well in the first round, only to retire on the stool in the second.

The hurt business is a whirlwind venture of sacrifice, there are minimal prerequisites to becoming a professional boxer but a hefty tag to compete from the lower tier up to that championship pinnacle. To be honest, these “Ghost Gloving” numbers have never been a point of interest, except to notch another career victory to their register.   Anything less is a none factor from one name to the next.  Yea, the verbiage sounds harsh but the reality of boxing reflects to the old western saloons with the batwing doors – finding the entry to this sport is just as easy as locating the exit.

The compass of “Ghost Gloving” spans nation wide. The promoters aren’t complaining about the “Ghost Gloving” effect because its easy money. True enough it may be the year 2021 but till this day the cultivation of “Ghost Gloving” continues to grow exponentially in a sport with the possibility of imminent death.   I’ve witnessed brutal knockouts of no-name fighters in boxing and then several weeks later they’re back in the ring on a different promotion. Even with that said, no one really remembers the applicable face to the knockout because they simply move around to different regions.  

LEGENDARY “BOXFATHER” Skip Crumpler

There is a man known to many as the legendary “BoxFather” Skip Crumpler,  a cut-man in boxing working with some of the biggest names of the sport.  If asked, he’ll definitely take you back to when he began bringing none fighters off the streets and into the ring for fight cards.   The regularity was so much, they termed it “Skip Fighters.” Some promoters are known to request up to 15 “Skip fighters” on a single card. Not to mention, they all made weight.

Even now, the insertion of “Skip Fighters” onto fight cards is a regularity. “Ghost Gloving” is a weird “quid pro quo” handshake. Money for the promoter, fighters paid, and live to compete another day. What is intriguing, is how some fighters are in denial that “Ghost Gloving” even exist, especially over-the-top post fight fight celebrations on doing what you were suppose to do.