Britains top 10 greatest ever boxers

[NazNaci1]

1 to 10, Lewis No1.

- Lennox Lewis
- Ken Buchannan
- Ted 'Kid' Lewis
- Naseem Hamed
- John Conteh
- Chris Eubank
- Lloyd Honeyghan
- Nigel Benn
- Joe Calzaghe
- Bob Fitzsimmons

[Horse]

But I bet Scott Harrison is?

I posted my list, and he wasn't in it.

[martin_g91]

Loads of great lists. Whilst I'm still working on my order, I must say the first things that spring to my mind:

EVERY list, should have Hamed on it !

And NO list, should have Lewis on it !

[gemmell]

1. Joe Calzaghe
2. Nigel Benn
3. Chris Eubank
4. Llloyd Honeyghan
5. Lennox Lewis
6. Ricky Hatton
7.Naseem Hamed
8. Michael Watson
9. Barry Mcguigan
10. Duke Mckenzie

Please note that this is a list of boxers who have either watched on telly or seen in my lifetime....or live lol

fair enough but calzaghe didn't beat many good fighters..the only good prime fighter he beat was kessler and a good win against a old but good hopkins..for them reasons he will never be known as the best brit just my opinion mate

[banjo]

Loads of great lists. Whilst I'm still working on my order, I must say the first things that spring to my mind:

EVERY list, should have Hamed on it !

And NO list, should have Lewis on it !

Really? Why?

[banjo]

is that to say all the kids of the UK and US troops that were staioned in Germany at the time are now Germans?

Not if they are born on a military base.

[mickey1975]

I do find it odd lennox is easily the top ranked when he got flattened twice by two journeyman types......

You wouldn't hear the end of it if Joe Calzaghe had been flattened by Omar Sheika and say Charles Brewer.

People also moan about Calzaghe never facing the top rivals in their prime.....Lewis didn't fight Riddick Bowe either and fought and an old Tyson and Holyfield.

I also find ot odd that some people say the prime reason pertaining to nationality is wherte one was born.....is that to say all the kids of the UK and US troops that were staioned in Germany at the time are now Germans?

I think defining someone's nationality is a hard thing - I would suggest the best parameters are the passport they hold and what country they feel the closest to....

But in this world where movement and migration are far easier than before it is hard to define such rules.

I personally feel Lennox came back to the UK primarily for financial reasons - IE in the UK boxing is a much bigger sport than Canada and the UK have been desperate for a UK world heavy champ.

If Lennox had decided to base himself in Canada he would have made less money and if he had based himself in the States he would have been just anpther up and coming heavy, and a foreign one at that....but come top the UK and suddenly you got an entire boxing-mad country behind you.

For those reasons I struggle with Lennox as 'British'.....I may be wrong.

HE seems to live in MIami - I am not sure he has ever owned a house in the UK??? ALso - what passport does he hold? Is it a UK passport or a Canadian passport....I have no idea

lennox definatelty came "home" to take advantage of our longing for a heavyweight champ.since he made it,hes spent as little time here as possible and i guarantee he doesent class himself as english

[ALI]

I do find it odd lennox is easily the top ranked when he got flattened twice by two journeyman types......

Thats harsh, McCal and Rahman were hardly journeyman. Both were big punchers and both downed Lewis with one big shot. Lewis had his eye of the ball in the first Rahman fight and in my opinion can be excused for that. But the most important point is that Lewis rematched both McCal and Rahman, Rahman in an immediate rematch, he dominated them both and stopped them, albiet however strange the McCal stoppage was.

Lewis didn't fight Riddick Bowe either and fought and an old Tyson and Holyfield.

For whatever reason him and Bowe did not meet in the pro ranks, dont forget the he KO'd him pretty easily in the 1988 Olympic final.

Tyson was definately past it when Lewis fought him, but Holyfield is debateable. I could agree that he was not quite at his very best, but remember that the Holyfield fight happened just 18 months after Holyfield v Tyson 2, and Holyfield looked superb in both Tyson fights, so i reckon your being pretty harsh again.

[black panther]

1. Jimmy Wilde
2. Robert Fitzsimmons
3. Ted "kid" Lewis
4. Lennox Lewis
5. Freddie Welsh
6. Joe Calzaghe
7. Jackie "Kid" Berg
8. Lloyd Honeyghan
9. Jimmy McLarnin
10. Naseem Hamed


This was done just over a year ago.

http://forum.boxrec.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=81953
http://forum.boxrec.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=82502

[Poncey]

Mine changes with the wind.

1 Wilde
2 Lynch
3 Fitzsimmons
4 Lennox Lewis
5 Kid Lewis
6 Calzaghe
7 Berg
8 Buchanan
9 Hamed
10 Conteh

[martin_g91]

Loads of great lists. Whilst I'm still working on my order, I must say the first things that spring to my mind:

EVERY list, should have Hamed on it !

And NO list, should have Lewis on it !

Really? Why?

They just both stick out to me as examples of a boxer being: Very OVER rated (Lewis) and very UNDER rated (Hamed)

Hamed unfortunatly seems to be suffering from his outside the ropes antics overshadowing what he achieved inside the ropes. This is like Eubank. The first thing that springs to most peoples minds is a truck driving nutter dressed like lord of the manor who signs up for too many celeb tv shows and adverts. He could REALLY fight ! And had a chin like granit !
I fear that the rope flipping, carpet flying, top of the pops Hamed is suffering the same way. He was a FANTASTIC natural talent who dominated his division. He was streets ahead of the rest at his peak.

Lewis for me waited out a dying division (some may say well managed). He stayed well clear of Tyson untill Tyson was well and truly gone. With no one else around he took up the mantle but to put it in perspective, Lewis never boxed a World Champion till be fought Holyfield and that was relativly late in his career. No one was happier to see Vitali Klitschlo stopped on a cut than Lewis (and I'm not a Klitschko fan). Nothing against him, he conducts himself well but with the timing of his record in the time of his division, I can't put him top ten of all time.

[banjo]

They just both stick out to me as examples of a boxer being: Very OVER rated (Lewis) and very UNDER rated (Hamed)

Hamed unfortunatly seems to be suffering from his outside the ropes antics overshadowing what he achieved inside the ropes. This is like Eubank. The first thing that springs to most peoples minds is a truck driving nutter dressed like lord of the manor who signs up for too many celeb tv shows and adverts. He could REALLY fight ! And had a chin like granit !
I fear that the rope flipping, carpet flying, top of the pops Hamed is suffering the same way. He was a FANTASTIC natural talent who dominated his division. He was streets ahead of the rest at his peak.

Lewis for me waited out a dying division (some may say well managed). He stayed well clear of Tyson untill Tyson was well and truly gone. With no one else around he took up the mantle but to put it in perspective, Lewis never boxed a World Champion till be fought Holyfield and that was relativly late in his career. No one was happier to see Vitali Klitschlo stopped on a cut than Lewis (and I'm not a Klitschko fan). Nothing against him, he conducts himself well but with the timing of his record in the time of his division, I can't put him top ten of all time.

I agree with you on Hamed but can't on Lewis.

Lewis was the mandatory challenger for the WBC belt which Tyson won from Bruno, Don King did his best to keep Lewis from getting that title shot and allegedly offered Lewis step-a-side money so that Tyson could unify with Bruce Seldon and set up a bout with Holyfield. Lewis declined and complained to the WBC who ordered Tyson to defend against Lewis, Tyson went ahead with the Seldon fight and was then stripped of the WBC title. Don King did all of the avoiding not Lewis.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Loads of great lists. Whilst I'm still working on my order, I must say the first things that spring to my mind:

EVERY list, should have Hamed on it !

And NO list, should have Lewis on it !

Really? Why?

They just both stick out to me as examples of a boxer being: Very OVER rated (Lewis) and very UNDER rated (Hamed)

Hamed unfortunatly seems to be suffering from his outside the ropes antics overshadowing what he achieved inside the ropes. This is like Eubank. The first thing that springs to most peoples minds is a truck driving nutter dressed like lord of the manor who signs up for too many celeb tv shows and adverts. He could REALLY fight ! And had a chin like granit !
I fear that the rope flipping, carpet flying, top of the pops Hamed is suffering the same way. He was a FANTASTIC natural talent who dominated his division. He was streets ahead of the rest at his peak.

Lewis for me waited out a dying division (some may say well managed). He stayed well clear of Tyson untill Tyson was well and truly gone. With no one else around he took up the mantle but to put it in perspective, Lewis never boxed a World Champion till be fought Holyfield and that was relativly late in his career. No one was happier to see Vitali Klitschlo stopped on a cut than Lewis (and I'm not a Klitschko fan). Nothing against him, he conducts himself well but with the timing of his record in the time of his division, I can't put him top ten of all time.

Hamed didn't ever clear out the division though, and his tenure at the top was not long enough. He retired off the back of one defeat and an abortive comeback fight where he stank.

You get props for sticking around near the top - Holyfield's own record was patchy at heavyweight, but you judge a fighter on his best nights, as much as the poor performances.

Lewis did not 'stay well clear of Tyson' that's bull. Tyson had no interest in fighting Lewis whatsoever. They were also with rival networks. Holyfield was not interested in Lewis either. It takes two to Tango, strange you blame Lewis for these fights not hapenning, rather than Tyson or Holyfield.

Tyson even went so far as to give Lewis step aside money - that shows how keen he was to face our len.

Being British, Len didn't get a look in for many years, also refusing to fight for Don King hampered his opportunities, a lot of people forget that.

[jamesmcdonnell]

They just both stick out to me as examples of a boxer being: Very OVER rated (Lewis) and very UNDER rated (Hamed)

Hamed unfortunatly seems to be suffering from his outside the ropes antics overshadowing what he achieved inside the ropes. This is like Eubank. The first thing that springs to most peoples minds is a truck driving nutter dressed like lord of the manor who signs up for too many celeb tv shows and adverts. He could REALLY fight ! And had a chin like granit !
I fear that the rope flipping, carpet flying, top of the pops Hamed is suffering the same way. He was a FANTASTIC natural talent who dominated his division. He was streets ahead of the rest at his peak.

Lewis for me waited out a dying division (some may say well managed). He stayed well clear of Tyson untill Tyson was well and truly gone. With no one else around he took up the mantle but to put it in perspective, Lewis never boxed a World Champion till be fought Holyfield and that was relativly late in his career. No one was happier to see Vitali Klitschlo stopped on a cut than Lewis (and I'm not a Klitschko fan). Nothing against him, he conducts himself well but with the timing of his record in the time of his division, I can't put him top ten of all time.

I agree with you on Hamed but can't on Lewis.

Lewis was the mandatory challenger for the WBC belt which Tyson won from Bruno, Don King did his best to keep Lewis from getting that title shot and allegedly offered Lewis step-a-side money so that Tyson could unify with Bruce Seldon and set up a bout with Holyfield. Lewis declined and complained to the WBC who ordered Tyson to defend against Lewis, Tyson went ahead with the Seldon fight and was then stripped of the WBC title. Don King did all of the avoiding not Lewis.

Lewis took the step aside money. He had no choice, either he took the money or Tyson would have avoided him anyway. Or was that on another occasion.

[banjo]

They just both stick out to me as examples of a boxer being: Very OVER rated (Lewis) and very UNDER rated (Hamed)

Hamed unfortunatly seems to be suffering from his outside the ropes antics overshadowing what he achieved inside the ropes. This is like Eubank. The first thing that springs to most peoples minds is a truck driving nutter dressed like lord of the manor who signs up for too many celeb tv shows and adverts. He could REALLY fight ! And had a chin like granit !
I fear that the rope flipping, carpet flying, top of the pops Hamed is suffering the same way. He was a FANTASTIC natural talent who dominated his division. He was streets ahead of the rest at his peak.

Lewis for me waited out a dying division (some may say well managed). He stayed well clear of Tyson untill Tyson was well and truly gone. With no one else around he took up the mantle but to put it in perspective, Lewis never boxed a World Champion till be fought Holyfield and that was relativly late in his career. No one was happier to see Vitali Klitschlo stopped on a cut than Lewis (and I'm not a Klitschko fan). Nothing against him, he conducts himself well but with the timing of his record in the time of his division, I can't put him top ten of all time.

I agree with you on Hamed but can't on Lewis.

Lewis was the mandatory challenger for the WBC belt which Tyson won from Bruno, Don King did his best to keep Lewis from getting that title shot and allegedly offered Lewis step-a-side money so that Tyson could unify with Bruce Seldon and set up a bout with Holyfield. Lewis declined and complained to the WBC who ordered Tyson to defend against Lewis, Tyson went ahead with the Seldon fight and was then stripped of the WBC title. Don King did all of the avoiding not Lewis.

Lewis took the step aside money. He had no choice, either he took the money or Tyson would have avoided him anyway. Or was that on another occasion.

Oh right, I thought he declined the money, wasn't certain, I know it was offered though.

[tntround1]

Lernnox is the best Canadian boxer ever...but doesn't belong on this list. HE represented Canada in the Olympics,not Britain and after his mother left has never lived here.The fact he was born here ishardly the be all and end all.

Ethincally due to an English mum Kessler is Half-english so why do we consider Lennox British and not KEssler?

That's one of the difficult things in determining 'nationality' - is it birthplace? Is it passport? Is it bloodline? Is it where the individual thinks he belongs?

I would say the latter, but Lennox has said he is Jamican-British-Canadian and a man of the world....so basically distances himself a bit...anyway - herte is my list. bearing in mind the difficuty of classification -

• Joe calzaghe
  Lennox Lewis (if he can be considered British)
  ken buchannan
  Naseem Hamed
  lloyd Honeyghan
  BEnny Lynch
  Jimmy Wilde
  Bob Fitzsimmonds (if he can be considered British)
  Nigel Benn
  Ricky Hatton

Kevin Pieterson is english too isn't he

[banjo]

MichaelBisping that he is in fact not British at all, but a Cypriot!

He was born on a British military base in Cyprus which makes him British, my oldest sister was born on a British Army base in Germany which makes her British, if she'd been born off the base in a German hospital then she would be German and it's the same with Bisping in Cyprus if he'd been born in a public hospital off base he'd be Cypriot.

[Horse]

my oldest sister was born on a British Army base in Germany which makes her British, if she'd been born off the base in a German hospital then she would be German and it's the same with Bisping in Cyprus if he'd been born in a public hospital off base he'd be Cypriot.

Why would she be German just because she was born on German soil?

Is that all nationality is? It sounds ridiculous to me.

[banjo]

my oldest sister was born on a British Army base in Germany which makes her British, if she'd been born off the base in a German hospital then she would be German and it's the same with Bisping in Cyprus if he'd been born in a public hospital off base he'd be Cypriot.

Why would she be German just because she was born on German soil?

Is that all nationality is? It sounds ridiculous to me.

It is ridiculous but that's the way that this ridiculous world we live in works.

[Horse]

It is ridiculous but that's the way that this ridiculous world we live in works.

Does it? How long has this silly nonsense been going on?

[JDC]

and manuel alamunia

[jamesmcdonnell]

it isn't at all. If I was born in australia to my irish parents that wouldn't make me australian. my mrs's sister was born in australia to an english father, ausie mother and she's completely english, she doesn't even have duel nationality.[/quote]

If you are born in a foreign country, and your parents choose to reside there, they can apply for dual nationality, that's you're right, if you choose not to, that's also your right, however the right exists, and therefore you are incorrect.

[Horse]

If you are born in a foreign country, and your parents choose to reside there, they can apply for dual nationality, that's you're right, if you choose not to, that's also your right, however the right exists, and therefore you are incorrect.

You can apply for dual nationality, but do they have to give it to you?

[forcefraser]

I was born on a ship sailing from New York to Liverpool, somewhere in the Atlantic. What does that make me??

Surely it`s your citizenship that determines what nationaility you are. Regardless if you were brought up elsewhere, if you have British Citizenship, then you are British.

If you were born in a certain country, I believe it gives you the right to apply for Citizenship of that country.