Frankie Otero is the exception to the excuse rule. The Cuban lightweight that only lost nine out of sixty pro fights, was a no excuse fighter. After dropping a hard fought ten-rounder to Ken Buchanan in Miami Beach, a hometown reporter asked Frankie if he thought he'd won the fight. When the reporter insisted that a knockdown had been a slip, Frankie shook his head. Kudos for Frankie, but he's the exception to the rule.
Boxers always have an excuse.
Perhaps it is a justification of ego, a self-hypnosis to soothe the fears of defeat and mediocrity. Of all excuses, diseases and maladies are the most common. Losers are either getting over a cold or just blooming with a bronchial infection. A reporter once asked Fritzie Zivic, the reason he lost to Sugar Ray Robinson. Instead of an excuse, Fritzie came up with an optimistic definition of his defeat.