Which area of the UK has produced the best boxers?

[pyenest77]

All of the above Manchester, Sheffield, London which you would expect.

To me Leeds & Birmingham always underperformed for the sizes of the cities.

Liverpool the current up & comer. A lot of prospects coming through.

It goes in cycles. Sheffield's era is mainly built off the success of Brendan Ingle's gym. One big name fighter from a region boosts the whole area as it makes kids think they should get down the gym and give boxing a go.

Leeds has been terrible at producing boxers of late and in part that might have something to do with it being a faster growing, more affulent city than Sheffield, Liverpool etc. Also it is been more influenced by other sports than most cities. It has a top division side in both codes of Rugby (the only place outside of London that does) plus (until recent years) a big football following.

However, give it five years and I think Leeds' boxing scene will be rocking. Look at the amateurs, Damo Jones won the ABAs this year even though it was his first season as a senior, Qais Ashfaq is the youngest member of Team GB, Jack Bateson has won everything there is to win as a junior and then the likes of Connor Loftus, Billy Pickles, Jack Daniel, Ishkham Lone have all won national titles. Josh Warrington and Adil Anwar will reach British level in the next 18 month. Gary Sykes is only from down the road.

Totally agree Andy & I am from Just down the road too. I rate Adil I saw him at York Hall beating Nathan Graham & yeah he looked good. It would be good when the new arena is up & running to get some big time boxing with local champions in Leeds it has been a long time coming.

[oliverfennell]

Blackwood is much smaller than Merthyr and has produced Robbie Regan, Joe Calzaghe and Gavin Rees

also nathan cleverly is from the blackwood 4 world champion's from a small town tha takes some beating

Four? Calzaghe, Clev, Rees, and...?

[crusader]

Blackwood is much smaller than Merthyr and has produced Robbie Regan, Joe Calzaghe and Gavin Rees

also nathan cleverly is from the blackwood 4 world champion's from a small town tha takes some beating

Four? Calzaghe, Clev, Rees, and...?

Regan was a WBO champ

[Asterix]

Blackwood is much smaller than Merthyr and has produced Robbie Regan, Joe Calzaghe and Gavin Rees

also nathan cleverly is from the blackwood 4 world champion's from a small town tha takes some beating

Four? Calzaghe, Clev, Rees, and...?

Maybe Maccarinelli?

[Coco]

Robbie Regan won a world title, and there are plenty of other quality fighters from the surrounding areas
Maccarenelli is from Swansea

[oliverfennell]

Yeah, must be Regan. Macca was from the same gym as Calzaghe, Clev and Rees but is a Swansea lad.

[boxzilla]

Wales produced the first 3 Lonsdale Belt winners, Tom Thomas, Freddie Welsh, Jim Driscoll. Other greats include Tommy Farr, Jimmy Wilde, Howard Winstone, Eddie Thomas, Llew Edwards, Percy Jones, and countless others.
Also produced some great old timers and bare-knucklers, largely due to the boxing booths and the mountain fighters, many of whom are recorded in a new book :

Mountain Fighters
Lost Tales of Welsh Boxing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peerlesspr ... hotostream

http://www.gwales.com/bibliographic/?is ... 04&tsid=22

it was also a Welshman that devised the Marquis of Queensbury Rules and laid the framework for the modern sport.

[The 1bangkid]

Don't tell me you think Lennox Lewis ranks higher than Jimmy Wilde!

true lewis is not as great as people like to make out

[Wrists]

Lewis is a great.

End of

[BoxingAnalyst]

Sheffield and London have produced the best consistently.

[funso banjo baby]

1750- 1830

Bristol !

[Captain Hook]

Without doing any research at all I'd guess Wales.

That would be my guess also simply for that fact that the best British boxer of all time came out of there.

Lennox Lewis is Welsh? Who knew!

:)

Does he mean Calzaghe or Winstone?

Lewis for me, all day....or Naz.

East London is a big shout, props to Manchester, Liverpool and South Wales in particular, and of course Sheffield has produced some top names, including Woods, Witter (or is he Doncaster?), Hamed and Nelson in the 1990s/2000s era.

[Captain Hook]

Blackwood is much smaller than Merthyr and has produced Robbie Regan, Joe Calzaghe and Gavin Rees

also nathan cleverly is from the blackwood 4 world champion's from a small town tha takes some beating

Four? Calzaghe, Clev, Rees, and...?

Nicky Wire?

[Captain Hook]

Don't tell me you think Lennox Lewis ranks higher than Jimmy Wilde!

true lewis is not as great as people like to make out

Behave pal...based on what?

[moorser]

Belfats has a shout

It has produced a few world champions and olympic medalists !

[Jon Saxon]

Don't tell me you think Lennox Lewis ranks higher than Jimmy Wilde!

true lewis is not as great as people like to make out

[Wake up call]

also nathan cleverly is from the blackwood 4 world champion's from a small town tha takes some beating

Four? Calzaghe, Clev, Rees, and...?

Nicky Wire?

When James Dean Bradfield was younger he used be something of a long distance runner. He didn't think anyone around his way could compete with him and then one day he was out jogging and some dark-haired kid ran past him. That kid was Joe Calzaghe.

[Craig14]

Four? Calzaghe, Clev, Rees, and...?

Nicky Wire?

When James Dean Bradfield was younger he used be something of a long distance runner. He didn't think anyone around his way could compete with him and then one day he was out jogging and some dark-haired kid ran past him. That kid was Joe Calzaghe.

Shame he didn't stick to running, instead he's been abusing eardrums all over the world with his tacky rhyming child-like pop music.

[exittored]

Don't tell me you think Lennox Lewis ranks higher than Jimmy Wilde!

Jimmy Wilde is mostly a complete myth built up by the Bert Sugar types of the boxing world who don't let facts get in the way of a good story.

Of his 150 odd fights, nearly 140 of them were either against non-boxers in circus boxing booth shows, complete novices or journeymen so it's hardly an achievement to get 100 KO's doing that.

He faced maybe 10 decent domestic or world level fighters and lost 3 of those fights.

[Karl Jade]

Still can't believe anyone could rank Calzaghe above Lennox, like.

Lewis dominated boxing's top division for a decade. He's easily the best British fighter of our generation.

[keithmoonhangover]

Still can't believe anyone could rank Calzaghe above Lennox, like.

Lewis dominated boxing's top division for a decade. He's easily the best British fighter of our generation.

'Dominated'. He lost to two very ordinary fighters and didn't fight Tyson or Holyfield in their primes.

[J]

Without doing any research at all I'd guess Wales.

That would be my guess also simply for that fact that the best British boxer of all time came out of there.

ted kid lewis was from wales?

[keithmoonhangover]

Without doing any research at all I'd guess Wales.

That would be my guess also simply for that fact that the best British boxer of all time came out of there.

ted kid lewis was from wales?

Best british boxer ever IMHO.

[Craig14]

Still can't believe anyone could rank Calzaghe above Lennox, like.

Lewis dominated boxing's top division for a decade. He's easily the best British fighter of our generation.

'Dominated'. He lost to two very ordinary fighters and didn't fight Tyson or Holyfield in their primes.

Come on Keith he got caught by a couple of great punches by two big men who he beat in re-matches, he did dominate the division for years.

[J]

keith dont make me give you my first NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN

cheese on bread.