“Win tonight, look good next time” is a boxing adage that has been credited to boxing trainer George Benton (1933-2011). The saying means that a boxer should win the current fight in any way possible, however ugly; the style points can be saved for the next fight.
 
“As they say in boxing: Get the win this time, look good next time” was cited in print in 1999. “The legendary trainer George Benton used to have a saying. ‘Win tonight, look good next time’” was cited in 2013.
 
   
Wikipedia: George Benton
George Benton (May 15, 1933 – September 19, 2011) was a boxer and a boxing trainer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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For seventeen years, Benton worked with Lou Duva and the Duva family’s promotion company, Main Events, as the head trainer for many of their fighters. Among the fighters he trained were Evander Holyfield, Mike McCallum, Meldrick Taylor, and Pernell Whitaker.
 
In 1989 and 1990, Benton was named “Trainer of the Year” by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
 
In 2001, he was elected to the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.
     
Boxing Monthly (UK)
December 1999
AN UGLY MESS
GRAHAM HOUSTON reports from Detroit as Naseem Hamed makes no friends with a shabby performance against Cesar Soto
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As they say in boxing: Get the win this time, look good next time.
     
Boxing Scene
Bhopreign
11-13-2009, 11:12 PM
Manny Pacquaio Just Win This Time Look Good Next Time
   
Bleacher Report
Oakland Raiders Get Number One: How They Did It and How They Should Build on It
By Carl Cockerham , Senior Analyst Sep 20, 2010
The Oakland Raiders got their first win of the season on Sunday.
 
It wasn’t pretty at all but as the legendary heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman once said, “Sometimes you just gotta win today and look good next time.”
 
Twitter
Ricardo
‏@Spurnandez210
@JamelHerring @hboboxing Vargas is trying too hard to impress the fans!! He’s gotta pop that jab & move!! Win now look good next time
9:40 PM - 16 Mar 2013
   
Newsday (Long Island, NY)
Guillermo Rigondeaux back on HBO
December 6, 2013 12:46 PM
By Robert Cassidy
The legendary trainer George Benton used to have a saying. “Win tonight, look good next time.”
 
Winning the fight is all that really matters in boxing, right?
 
Well, not always.
 
Benton would occasionally apply that saying to Pernell Whitaker, the extremely talented Hall of Famer who boxed from 1984-2001. Whitaker was a brilliant strategist and an excellent defensive fighter. He didn’t always make for the most exciting fights.
 
UFC
An Interesting Year for Luke Barnatt
November 22, 2014
Luke Barnatt knew he beat Sean Strickland. The May bout in Berlin didn’t mark the best performance turned in by “The Bigslow,” but everyone has those days. As the great boxing trainer George Benton once said, “win today, look good next time.”
 
Fight Saga
Stiverne vs Wilder surprise: The modern-day Foreman vs Morrison?
Written by Lee Cleveland
at Jan 12, 2015 - 07:42PM ET in News
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There’s an old adage in boxing, “Win tonight and look good next time.”