Is the british title being devalued nowadays?

[whicker]

Is it me, or does it seem to be increasingly the case that the British title isn't as competative as it used to be?

So many times in the last year there have been challenges for the British title in which the opponent really has little right to be fighting for it.

For sure, there have been some great British title fights, but too many one sided ones, and generally meaningless match ups etc as well.

The fact that Khan simply ignored it is telling, too.

We do have English champions too, but then the logic of someone winning the English title to work thier way up to challenge for the British simply doesn't seem to happen.

It's almost like it is a novelty, rather than a geunie championship.

[jimglen]

ofcourse

[metropol]

the lonsdale belt is well respected and ive een great fights for it , its also being fought for on a regular basis an belts dont stay vacant for long , the english belt means less imo it is rear to see those fights televised

[Gazmac81]

there was a good run of British title Fights on Friday night fight night
but seems once Sports Network gor a contract with them again that there have been less of them
and more Commonwealth crap.

Is it me, or does it seem to be increasingly the case that the British title isn't as competative as it used to be?

So many times in the last year there have been challenges for the British title in which the opponent really has little right to be fighting for it.

For sure, there have been some great British title fights, but too many one sided ones, and generally meaningless match ups etc as well.

The fact that Khan simply ignored it is telling, too.

We do have English champions too, but then the logic of someone winning the English title to work thier way up to challenge for the British simply doesn't seem to happen.

It's almost like it is a novelty, rather than a geunie championship.

[whicker]

the lonsdale belt is well respected and ive een great fights for it

It is certainly respected, but does holding it still mean that the holder is a legitimate champion of their nation?

The whole point of being a Champion is that you fight the best challengers.

[hurlock]

aslong as the board allows promoters to nominate mickey mouse titles, & propose to them the way they want to pave & protect there fighters.
& con the paying public into how good the fighter is they are watching being padded up with wins to secure big money fights.
the british ratings should be a league with area titles & eliminators put in place & sanctioned to all registerd fighters so there's a good reflection of the level they are @.
people want good fights,fighters want to be rememberd for good nights,unbeaten records aint impressive no more the ufc have proved this.
i support millwall i watch them they aint no man u but i still prefer to watch & support them.

[sharon1888]

British title is very important & the ones i have seen recently have been very competative
(Dodson V Quigley ) ( Appleby v Lindsay)

also as a women i think its the most beautiful belt in boxing

ps: Khan did not go down the British Title route as he would have then needed to fight who the BBBofC put forward as mandatory challengers rather than pick his opponents

[DG.]

It has not been the same since the WBU came along and offered more money.

Even the EBF paid more sometimes, depending in the fighter.

[whicker]

British title is very important & the ones i have seen recently have been very competative
(Dodson V Quigley ) ( Appleby v Lindsay)

Appleby V Lindsay was exactly who it should be the champ V number one challenger who had won an eliminator.

Dodson V Quigley WAS a good fight, but remember Quigley was due to be challenging for the ENGLISH title on that bill, and leapfrogged that to make an "all Liverpool" main event. Fair enough from a promotional/entertainment perspective, but typical of how British title fights are made now.

[finchy36]

I know this idea belongs in cloud cuckoo land, but wouldn't it be good from a fan pov if you could only fight for a 'world' title if you had fought for a 'euro/commonwealth' title and you could only fight for a 'euro/commonwealth' title if you have fought for the British title.

I think that might be why people like Froch. He won the BBBC and Commonwealth titles before becoming World Champion. I get the feeling Khan - like Audley - is trying to cut corners. If you haven't proved your the best in Britain how can you claim to be the best in the World. Only my opinion, but hey..........

[finchy36]

Appleby v Lyndsey was a good fight. Great advert for British boxing. I hope Lyndsey kicks on now and I'd love to see him fighting at world level within 2 years.

[Neri]

I know this idea belongs in cloud cuckoo land, but wouldn't it be good from a fan pov if you could only fight for a 'world' title if you had fought for a 'euro/commonwealth' title and you could only fight for a 'euro/commonwealth' title if you have fought for the British title.

That's an okay rule I suppose but you could still get a fighter boxing for a world title without actually WINNING the european or british, just having competed for them.

The British title was devalued long ago when the boxing scene in this country was infested with WBU and WBF titles. Fighters chose to go where the money was rather than the actual meaningful titles.

[hurlock]

British title is very important & the ones i have seen recently have been very competative
(Dodson V Quigley ) ( Appleby v Lindsay)

also as a women i think its the most beautiful belt in boxing

ps: Khan did not go down the British Title route as he would have then needed to fight who the BBBofC put forward as mandatory challengers rather than pick his opponents

fights can fall through over purse bids,promoters not willing to share etc.
remember thaxton did get offerd shazza babes!

[dondada]

Is it me, or does it seem to be increasingly the case that the British title isn't as competative as it used to be?

So many times in the last year there have been challenges for the British title in which the opponent really has little right to be fighting for it.

For sure, there have been some great British title fights, but too many one sided ones, and generally meaningless match ups etc as well.

The fact that Khan simply ignored it is telling, too.

We do have English champions too, but then the logic of someone winning the English title to work thier way up to challenge for the British simply doesn't seem to happen.

It's almost like it is a novelty, rather than a geunie championship.

The British title is the best in world boxing, bar none. 'World' titles might have better quality of opposition but every single governing body is, at the very least, wildly inconsistent and, at worst, riddled with self-interested corruption.

The British Board is not. Occasionally inconsistent and at times questionable but not bent.

The fact Khan ignored it IS telling. It tells you he wanted to avoid the high quality of opposition he would have had to box to win the thing.

You might be right in that it has become less competitive. But - and the likes of jimglen will support me on this I think - the pool is so much shallower these days. Especially for the wee lads. A lot of them wouldn't have got a look in one time over. But that isn't the belt's fault.

I do agree with you in another respect too - it should be an honour just to fight for the thing - you should have done something to deserve the shot. But sometimes circumstances get in the way.

[Autobarn]

not that long ago there were some excellent British title fights - then after Francis-Oakey there were very few good ones. As already said, Dodson-Quigley was great. Macklin-Elcock was a good matchup on paper, with a terrific showcase of aggressive boxing from Macklin. Isn't it going to be Cleverly v McIntosh for the British light heavy title? Looks promising.

[stujones]

Might be tad controvesial a selection, but I think the BBBoC should consider stripping a British champion who elects to fight for a European belt (EBU or EU), not Commonwealth belt mind - or maybe should the fighter lose ANY fight.... actually I think that might be a better alternative.

I don't know, it just doesn't "feel" right that Danny Williams should be still British champion, I mean how many times has he defended the belt since he beat Gammer for it. There have also been fighters who have lost other title fights and said "don't worry I still have my British championship" - that kind of devalues it... I know they might still be the best in Britain, but I don't know... like to see a person on a winning run fight for it.

[$wifty]

I think from a boxers point of view...the british title is definetly valued. I for one would not be happy if I never got to win that lonsdale belt. Think people who bypass it must look back with regrets...just my opinion

[DG.]

I think from a boxers point of view...the british title is definetly valued. I for one would not be happy if I never got to win that lonsdale belt. Think people who bypass it must look back with regrets...just my opinion

They do!

[metchampion]

I remember as a kid, being a bit upset not to see Big Frank Bruno with the Lonsdale belt wrapped round his waist. He went on to beat 'the best' Europe could offer for the EBU title. Apart from Noel Quarless, the other guys were all in his stable so he sidestepped the British en route to bigger fights.

In fairness, a bit like Charlie Magri and then Barry Mcguigan, Frank was head and shoulders above their countrymen and so who could he compete with for that title?

On the flip side of the coin, my hero, Sir Henry Cooper beat the best in Britain for the British & Empire titles and then defended against the best over a number of years. He was able to do this, because the competition was there. The board in a disgraceful display of pettiness, refused to allow their longest reigning champion to box for the WBA championship. Indeed, Brian London, who had been a British Champion, was disciplined by the board for boxing for a world title against their orders. I wonder how the BBBofC would fare in todays litigous climate in terms of resatraint of trade if they were to effectively prevent a licence holder from earning a wage in a contest sanctioned by a body which is recognised by the board.

I like the way that people like Robert McCracken, Nicky Cook, etc have gone about their business, winning and defending genuine titles (sometimes with a loss on the way) learning their trade and then attempting to win the big one. I think in this way, one can gauge how good they really are / were and at what level.

Henry Cooper, Robert McCracken and Paul Lloyd, Dave Charnley and Chris Finnegan were all top drawer European class fighters who fell slightly short against the best. Others who bypassed one title (British Euro or Commonwealth) have gone on to prove themselves world class.

I can think of only one man who won everything open to him :- Lloyd Honeyghan Southern Area, British, European, Commonwealth, WBC, WBA & IBF. Pretty impressive. I'd like to see something along the lines of :-

You cant box for a world unless you're a European, a European unless you're a British / Commonwealth, a British / Commonwealth, unless you're a national champion and not for this untill you've won an area or celtic title.

I know there'll be exceptions and waivers, but I think it would add real value to those titles and enable everyone to gauge who is the best at any particular level.

I know you guys n gals will blow holes in what I've said, but it's only opinion!

[hurlock]

who ever was british champion when bruno bypassed ...would of been better then the bums he fought that were brought over for him.i like bruno but the fact his stock was to ripe too risk made the title to big for him @ that time not vice versa

[Autobarn]

i think ppl with world clevel ambitions can bypass it without too many regrets. david haye springs to mind. i think he and hobson both got injured on seperate dates, but i got the impression that haye preferred to fight gurov for the EBU title and WBC top 10 ranking.

[banjo]

Hamed, Benn, Eubank, Reid, Woodhall all bypassed the British title to go to world level as well.

[hurlock]

I think from a boxers point of view...the british title is definetly valued. I for one would not be happy if I never got to win that lonsdale belt. Think people who bypass it must look back with regrets...just my opinion

everyone will agree its the best belt in boxing by far,its not a wwf strap!..it's more like a vintage antique sheer class a jewel.
it dates back to the latter day's young stephen DD ,to the marquis of queensberry!.we invented this sport.. britain is the home of boxing the lonsdale belt is prestigious the jules remayne of boxing.

it's the promoters that have ruined it,they say to tv companys i'll get him a commonwealth shot or british & hopefully get the wbo to slip us in high & we have championship boxing on your tv's.
why cant we see good eliminators(evenly ranked fighters)then good b.t fights & watch the champion defend it against the best in the land.id like too see urself or your brother box @ the echo arena with other local fighters,tickets reduced for kids make these big family events or cheap enough people can afford a beer or a programme(talking about northeners here )
it should make it more appealing & fighters like jamie moore shouldnt need to bank on waiting for a world title shot 4 a pension.
but it's a buisness thats laid it's stall out,& in an ideal world we could rival the other sports.

[oliverfennell]

British title is very important & the ones i have seen recently have been very competative
(Dodson V Quigley ) ( Appleby v Lindsay)

also as a women i think its the most beautiful belt in boxing

ps: Khan did not go down the British Title route as he would have then needed to fight who the BBBofC put forward as mandatory challengers rather than pick his opponents

If memory serves, Khan was nominated as mandatory for Thaxton but withdrew from purse bids.

Anyway, while it is a fantastic belt and one of the few "honest" titles left today, I don't think it harms a British fighter's career if he bypasses it for bigger opportunities. As others have said, Bruno, Hamed, Eubank, Benn and others didn't win the British, but it hardly detracts from their legacies, does it?

[whicker]

I do agree with you in another respect too - it should be an honour just to fight for the thing - you should have done something to deserve the shot. But sometimes circumstances get in the way.

Yeah, I think this is the route of the problem- the opposition.

Too many boxers are being given British title shots without really any merits to the challenge, because they are a "comfortable" opponent for the champion.

It's a lot worse for the Commonwealth, with these African boxers being brought over.