The Best of British - is the best yet to come?
IF British boxing isn’t already in better shape than ever, then it’s surely nearing a new peak with the very real prospect of a single Brit holding all the world championship belts in the blue riband heavyweight division.
It’s no mean feat, given the present quality of 200lb+ fighters from outside these shores. The depth of the division at home is no less impressive, with leaders Fury and Joshua followed by quality and experience in the shape of Whyte and Chisora. Looking a couple of years ahead, 22-year-old Daniel Dubois could well be sitting on top.
Pound-for-pound, Britain has been flush with world champions since the beginning of the Nineties, notably in the middleweight divisions, but still right across the board. That broad based success continues, with many exciting prospects, but who would make the Top Five of the last 30 years?
Top Ten is far too easy - we’d all probably agree on eight, maybe nine of them. That said, I’m still not going to rank my five choices. They’re all awesome and I’m pretty clear in my own mind which ones I think would be nearer the top.
Joe Calzaghe 46-0
A very long, unbeaten record will always prompt debate about the quality of opponents and the fairness of decisions. Nonetheless, the Welsh Dragon, two weight world champion at super-middle and light-heavy, retired in 2009 after beating legends Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Junior. Were the Americans past their best? Hopkins went on to beat Pavlik, Pascal, Cloud and Dawson. RJJ lasted another 10 years, beaten by Hopkins in 2010. JC schooled Jeff Lacy when most US commentators said the fight would be the Brit’s undoing. He also beat a prime-form Mikkel Kessler. The controversies change very little: over 40+ fights, most boxers will benefit from a decision (look at Callum Smith / John Ryder in 2019) – on that basis a Robin Reid rematch would have been good. The Hopkins bout was messy, awkward and scrappy, but despite The Executioner’s bleating, most ringside observers said it was JC all the way. Would he have beaten Ward? Very hard to say. Froch? Most probably. Either way, JC isn’t a Hall of Famer for nothing.
Chris Eubank Sr 45-5-2
Calzaghe retired citing his 1997 fight with Eubank – three fights before the end of the latter’s career - as possibly his toughest. Eccentric, unpredictable and with a granite chin, Eubank held WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles between 1990 and 1995. His long and impressive record was built when these divisions were awash with talent, not least in Britain. Consequently, while his exposure to the US was limited, Eubank beat arch-rival Nigel Benn, drawing with him in a rematch, and won twice against the superb Michael Watson, whose life-threatening brain injuries in the second bout ended his career. Many say Eubank lost his edge after the trauma of Watson 2. He went on to lose twice against Irish star Steve Collins and gained 20lb to twice challenge world cruiserweight champion Carl Thompson without success. A British great, nonetheless.
Nigel Benn 42-5-1
Former infantryman Benn, The Dark Destroyer, maintained a deep-seated rivalry with Eubank that made Froch and Groves look like two kids bickering. Their animosity bordered on hatred, which unsurprisingly made for a great first fight. Having defended his WBO title against Iran Barkley, stopping the former WBC champ after three knockdowns, favourite Benn lost it to Eubank in a ninth round stoppage. Stepping up to 168lb, Benn reined in his trademark raw aggression to develop a more strategic approach and snatch Mauro Galvano’s WBC super-middleweight crown. Like Eubank, Benn was twice beaten by Steve Collins, failing to grab the Irishman’s WBO super middleweight title, before hanging up his gloves in 1996. He abandoned a comeback in 2019, aged 55.
Ricky Hatton 45-3
One of Britain’s best-loved boxers, the body shot supremo was himself felled by a ninth round left hook to the body from Vyachaslev Senchenko when his 2012 comeback turned into retirement for good. Greater accuracy and quick-wittedness had served the Ukrainian well throughout the fight, highlighting the impact of Hatton’s yo-yoing weight and wavering focus leading up to his first three year break from the sport. For the most part, Hatton’s career was quite another story. Armed with virtually unmatched heart and bravery, Manchester’s finest dodged nobody and lost only to two of the greatest P4P fighters of all time – Mayweather and Pacquiao. His greatest achievement and ticket to the big time was undoubtedly, as underdog, his demolition of Kostya Tszyu to become IBF and Ring light welterweight champion – a fight that is still rated one the best of the 21st century so far.
Lennox Lewis 41-2-1
Perhaps, the Canadian accent set Lewis apart for some. However, London born and raised until 12, then returning from Canada for his pro career, the last undisputed world heavyweight champion was absolutely British and one of the finest boxers ever seen here or anywhere else. A three-time heavyweight champ and two-time lineal champ, Lewis defeated everyone he faced - including rematches against his only two surprise upsets, Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman. The upside of the McCall loss was Lewis’s switch of trainer to the legendary Emanuel Steward, leading to great victories over super-puncher Shannon Briggs, brilliant jabber Donovan Ruddock and great tactician Vitali Klitschko, not to mention a KO 8 of a Tyson on fading form. Despite being arguably robbed by judges to draw against Holyfield in their first meeting, brilliant all-rounder Lewis still considers him his toughest opponent.
So those are the Top Five. Who narrowly misses this cut? Next up would be featherweight sledgehammer and Hall of Famer Naseem Hamed (36-1). He brought big pay to the lower divisions, but still polarises opinion and woefully underestimated Marco Barrera in his penultimate fight and only loss. He’s possibly followed by super-middleweight ace Carl Froch (33-2): in 2010 he lost to Mikkel Kessler almost three years after the in-form Dane was beaten by Calzaghe and didn’t beat him until 2013 in Kessler’s last bout; secondly, despite going the distance with Andre Ward, he was hugely outclassed before handing over his WBC belt. Amir Khan (34-5) would have made a Top Ten, but he is simply not in the same league as Canelo or Crawford, both of whom taught him a lesson. Retirement must surely beckon for Khan, since his heart just isn’t in the game anymore.
Special mention goes to someone who would have been Top Five if I’d been counting from the Eighties: Lloyd Honeyghan (43-5) finally retired in 1995, but his best work and single finest hour – when he was still a boxer-puncher rather than a brawler – was embarrassing P4P legend Don Curry to become undisputed welterweight champion in 1986.
Why no Fury or AJ? Quite simply it’s still too early for those guys. Fury has more to give us and in this second phase of his career has only faced one truly decent opponent, i.e. Wilder. AJ lacked consistency even before the Ruiz shock – Parker took him all the way and Whyte was no pushover before the TKO 7. Nonetheless, one of them will make history in the not-too-distant future, so I’ll wait until then before slotting one of them in – whichever it is will go straight to the Top Three.
This article appeared in The Pugilist, Issue Two, 1 June 2020