BAD YEAR FOR UK BOXING?

[Quixall]

I think it says something that we have these fighters going for world titles despite in many cases coming up short. I think in the past we haven't had that many world champions at any one time and very few who fight with the elite in their respective divisions as is the case with Carl Froch at the moment. I think that we will see more fighters develop towards world title challengers like Groves, DeGale, Brook, whilst others will have a second bite of the cherry like Macklin, Barker, Murray, etc. If you look back there have only been a few that have been at the top of their game with differing levels of success at any one time such as Lewis, Hamed, Calzaghe, Benn, Eubank, Honeyghan, Watt, Conteh, Buchanan etc, stretching over the last 30 years or so. Many have been in and around the world scene without dominating and i think the same still applies today. If you look at the stand out British fighter of the last 30 years it is Lennox Lewis and no-one even gets close to what he achieved, you would have to go back to the likes of ted "kid" Lewis and pre war fighters to get an equivalent. Things go in fluxes and one of the problems is that in recent years a lot of our experienced and succesful fighters have retired, Lewis, Hamed, Hatton, Calzaghe, even the likes of Haye and Nelson and we are waiting for one of the younger guys to properly break through.

[Finch]

British fighters may have lost in many world titles challenges this year, and Froch I believe will be another. However, next year could see a number of British fighters fighting for world titles again and I expectthroughout the course of the year for there to be a number of British world champs.

It's not inconceibable for the following to be fighting for world titles next year

Haye will probably fight Vitali
Clev
Bellew
Barker
Froch
Murray
Macklin
Khan
Brook
Kevin Mitchell
Ricky Burns

If any of the above do not have a world title fight next year I'll be dissapointed. Particularly the likes of Brook, Mitchell, Barker et al.

Then you have the peripheral figures who may get a shot:

Fury
DeGale
Hatton
Munroe
McLoskey
John Murray (will need to work his way back into contention)

[-KOKid-]

I think 2011 has been a very good year for British boxing.

- Busiest year since 1995 in terms of number of shows held.
- Top UK fighters frequently fighting world class names and in most cases being very competitive.
- More boxing on British TV than ever before, and mostly strong viewing numbers.

We've see far worse years than this.

[JC]

I think 2011 has been a very good year for British boxing.

- Busiest year since 1995 in terms of number of shows held.
- Top UK fighters frequently fighting world class names and in most cases being very competitive.
- More boxing on British TV than ever before, and mostly strong viewing numbers.

We've see far worse years than this.

All good points.

Right now feels like a pretty good time for boxing in this country compared to recent times. Granted by the end of the year we may have lost Haye, Khan and Froch as legit word champions. But unlike a few years ago when we had just Hatton and Calzaghe at the very top and then the likes of Howard Eastman occasionally getting a shot it seems like we have lot more fighters operating at or around world level. We are also starting to reap the rewards of a properly funded and managed amateur programme with the likes of Price, Degale, Groves, Saunders and Gavin coming through with a wealth of international experience. Hopefully this will get even better after 2012.

[Ketchel]

I prefer to see the curent trend where the British guys are fighting for legit titles against the world's best. Who cares if they get beat. They can all hold their heads up high. The guys this year have proven they belong in World Class, have learnt, shown dignity, class, courage and will come again, better than before. Long may it continue.

Beats the crap out of the situation we had a few years back with everybody holding IBO, WBU, WBF titles claiming to be world class but rarely proved it. Would you prefer to remember those days or remember the sight of Macklin tearing into Sturm round after round?

[steve689]

Spare a thought for the Irish boxing scene (North and South). The boom years (2009 and 2010 were belters) appear to be well and truly over.

[LeedsLad]

We've got Carl Froch.

Not much else needs to be said.

[forcefraser]

If Froch loses then we have Cleverly as our sole world titlist. A win for Froch and we have a genuine #1 in his division type boxer for the first time in a while. British fighters have picked up belts recently but few can claim to be The Man at their weight class. A win for Carl would gloss over a few cracks.

The winner of Froch V Ward would still have to beat Bute to lay claim to the best in the division. Bute handled Johnson and Magee a lot easier than Froch did.

[nobby_nobbins]

If Froch loses then we have Cleverly as our sole world titlist. A win for Froch and we have a genuine #1 in his division type boxer for the first time in a while. British fighters have picked up belts recently but few can claim to be The Man at their weight class. A win for Carl would gloss over a few cracks.

The winner of Froch V Ward would still have to beat Bute to lay claim to the best in the division. Bute handled Johnson and Magee a lot easier than Froch did.

Bute beat Magee several years after Froch did so I'm not sure it means much. Bute's win over Johnson is more significant even though you could argue that he'd just been softened up by Froch.

[NazNaci1]

I prefer to see the curent trend where the British guys are fighting for legit titles against the world's best. Who cares if they get beat. They can all hold their heads up high. The guys this year have proven they belong in World Class, have learnt, shown dignity, class, courage and will come again, better than before. Long may it continue.

Beats the crap out of the situation we had a few years back with everybody holding IBO, WBU, WBF titles claiming to be world class but rarely proved it. Would you prefer to remember those days or remember the sight of Macklin tearing into Sturm round after round?

Good points, Ketchel. The 2 key points are those which you have touched on. So what if they lose? They are losing to true world class fighters, in most cases, rather than defending a paper IBO, WBO, WBU etc against some unknown South American, African or American / Euro clubfighter (And we have had plenty of those over the years).

Bad year? No, not at all. It's a year where we are getting back to what the sport is about. Testing yourself. The cream will always rise to the top. This type of match making only raises the bar higher. We have had it too low for too long, imo.

[jtourettes]

If Froch loses then we have Cleverly as our sole world titlist. A win for Froch and we have a genuine #1 in his division type boxer for the first time in a while. British fighters have picked up belts recently but few can claim to be The Man at their weight class. A win for Carl would gloss over a few cracks.

The winner of Froch V Ward would still have to beat Bute to lay claim to the best in the division. Bute handled Johnson and Magee a lot easier than Froch did.

The winner of Froch -Ward is undoubtedly the number one in the division.

[Finch]

Who cares if they get beat. They can all hold their heads up high. The guys this year have proven they belong in World Class, have learnt, shown dignity, class, courage

Does Amir Khan get included in this assessment?

[Finn]

If Froch loses then we have Cleverly as our sole world titlist. A win for Froch and we have a genuine #1 in his division type boxer for the first time in a while. British fighters have picked up belts recently but few can claim to be The Man at their weight class. A win for Carl would gloss over a few cracks.

I think next year we will have more world champions than ever before.

Khan will have a title or his titles back very soon
Froch may win tonight i certainly wouldnt write him off
Clev
Burns will probably get one
Certainly a middle weight champion very soon
Brook is likely to make that step up
I think Matty Hatton might gain a world title

Outside chance that Haye might spark vitali

Then you've got guys like BJ Saunders, Groves, Degale, Crolla all looking good.