Bruce Strauss
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Bruce Strauss (born February 6, 1952 in Younkers, NY) is a former boxer who is more known for his losses than for his wins. Sometimes he would use the alias of Ruben Bardot to obtain fights. His nickname was The Mouse.
Strauss was a boxing journeyman, title given to fighters who typically fight anyone and anywhere, often on short notice. Nevertheless, he became famous around boxing circles because of the amount of fights he lost by knockout. Officially, he lost twenty eight fights by knockout, but it has been estimated that, combined with his fights using the Ruben Bardot alias, he might have actually lost more than 150 fights by knockout. He himself has made mockery of his knockout loss number, stating that he is probably the only boxer in history that has lost by knockout on every continent. Strauss apparently does not mind mockery at his expense: In a 1990 Kayo boxing cards set, he posed while sitting on the canvas, with black make-up covering his eye, as he held on to a ring rope. This was clearly a pose and not a photo from a fight, as he looked straight into the camera when the photo to be used for the trading card was taken.
On June 1 of 1976, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Strauss debuted as a professional boxer, outpointing Gary Maiza after four rounds. His first official knockout defeat came at the hands of Mauricio Aldana, on January 10 of 1979 at Las Vegas. He also lost fights by knockout in Africa (Cameroon, South Africa), Europe (France, Germany, Italy), South America (Peru) and Oceania (Fiji). It is unclear whether he actually lost a fight by knockout in Australia or Asia under the Ruben Bardot alias.
To his credit, Strauss fought a number of top challengers and world champions in the Middleweight division, including Charlie Weir, Bobby Czyz, Eckhard Dagge, Al Ford, Billy Collins, Mike McCallum, Marlon Starling, Nino Gonzalez, Juan Jose Gimenez, David Braxton, Al Ford and Davey Hilton, among others. He also fought former world Lightweight champion Harry Arroyo, and a boxer who was also named Howard Stern.
His last official fight was a six round decision win over Terry Jesmer on November 24 of 1989 in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Strauss officially had a record of 76 wins, 53 losses and 5 draws (ties), with 54 knockout wins and 28 knockout losses. His 54 knockout wins did place him in boxing's exclusive group of fighters with 50 or more wins by knockout.
