Unlike champion boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., who has gone 48 fights without a loss and plans to retire after equaling the world record of 49, Britain’s Robin Deakin had lost 51 consecutive bouts until his victory on points against unheralded Latvian Deniss Kornilovs in London on Saturday.
Deakin won 40 out of 75 fights as an amateur but his professional losing streak is the longest recorded, according to Australian news portal news.com.au. Saturday’s victory was Deakin’s first since his pro debut in 2006 (the only other fight he’s ever won), according to U.K. tabloid the Daily Mirror.
The 29-year-old pugilist from Essex, who calls himself the “real-life Rocky” after the iconic fictional champ played by Sylvester Stallone, previously had his British boxing license revoked because authorities didn’t think he’d ever win. For the fight against Kornilovs, he was boxing under a license from the island nation of Malta, news.com.au reported.
After the fight, he took to Twitter to express the joy of victory.
More Must-Read Stories From TIME
- How an Online Pharmacy Sold Millions Worth Of Dubious COVID-19 Drugs — While Patients Paid the Price
- Why Literally Millions of Americans Are Quitting Their Jobs
- Meet the Women Participating in the Study That Could Change Future of Breast Cancer
- Inside the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of Tomorrow's Business Leaders
- An Innovative Washington Law Aims to Get Foreign-Trained Doctors Back in Hospitals
- Why the Ex-Husband of a Missing Chinese Billionaire Is Risking All to Tell Their Story
- Timothée Chalamet Wants You to Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve
