Daily Tellygraff Top 20 British Heavyweights

Coconut · Post by **Coconut** » 08 Dec 2005, 09:50

Makes you realise. We don't do heavies that well...

It's a subscription site so no link.

TOP 20 BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHTS

1 LENNOX LEWIS West Ham, London Born 2 September 1965 Fights 44 Won 41 Lost 2 Drawn 1 Lennox Lewis’ performance in unifying the heavyweight division by outpointing Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas in Nov 1999 — after a controversial draw eight months earlier — puts him way ahead of all other British big men. Lewis, the Olympic super-heavyweight gold medallist in Seoul in 1988, held the WBC Title in three reigns between 1993 and his retirement at the start of 2004. He also avenged the only two defeats he suffered, against Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, and completed his personal mission by knocking out Mike Tyson in 2002. He retired after a cut eye win over Vitali Klitschko.

2 FRANK BRUNO Hammersmith, London Born 16 November 1961 Fights 45 Won 40 Lost 5 After 13 years of trying, Bruno’s persistence and edication paid off with the reward of the WBC heavyweight title in 1995. To the delight of 30,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, Bruno outworked Oliver McCall to become world champ at the fourth attempt. He had been close to retirement because of an eye problem. He lost the title in a rematch with Tyson, but nobody can ever take away his achievement.

3 JOE BUGNER St Ives, Cambridgeshire Born Hungary 13 March 1950 Fights 83 Won 69 Lost 13 Drawn 1 Bugner proved how well he could fight when he climbed off the floor to shake Smokin’ Joe Frazier in their 12-round classic at Earls Court in 1974. Bugner’s controversial win over Henry Cooper ended Henry’s career in 1971. He went the 15 rounds in searing heat against Muhammad Ali for the world championship in Kuala Lumpur in 1975, it was considered an over-cautious performance.

4 HENRY COOPER Bermondsey, London Born 3 May 1934 Fights 55 Won 40 Lost 14 Drawn 1 Nobody will replace Henry Cooper in the affections of the British people. Cooper dominated British heavyweight boxing from 1959 until his retirement in 1971, but it was a left hook on to the jaw of the brash, 21-year old Cassius Clay at Wembley Stadium in 1963 that made his name. Clay came back to win because of Cooper’s cut eye. Clay became Muhammad Ali and beat Cooper again because of a terrible cut before 45,000 fans at Highbury Stadium in 1966

5 JACK BODELL Swadlincote, Derbyshire Born 11 August 1940 Fights 71 Won 58 Lost 13 Jack Bodell was about as awkward, sometimes as clumsy as they come - and a southpaw as well - but it should not be forgotten that he won 14 rounds out of 15 against Joe Bugner for the British, Commonwealth and European titles in 1971. He won a medal at the 1961 European championship in Belgrade. After beating Bugner, he lost to Jerry Quarry in one round which ended his world title dreams.

6 HENRY AKINWANDE Dulwich, London Born 12 October 1965 Fights 50 Won 47 Lost 2 Drawn 1 Akinwande was the original gentle giant: the 6ft 7in Londoner of Nigerian descent froze when he fought Lennox Lewis in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 1997 and was isqualified for refusing to stop holding. That disgrace hurt him personally, and damaged his reputation, but he was good enough to win the European title in Germany against Axel Schulz and held the lesser World Boxing Organisation championship.

7 BRIAN LONDON Blackpool Born Hartlepool 19 June 1934 Fights 58 Won 37 Lost 20 Drawn 1 London didn’t pretend that boxing was anything more or less than a business. He could slug with the best, including the infamous ‘Brawl of Porthcawl’ against Dick Richardson that ended in a riot, but when he challenged Muhammad Ali at Earls Court in 1966 he was way out of his depth. He folded in round three. In his youth he lost another world title bid to Floyd Patterson, but held the British title when it took some winning.

8 GARY MASON Wandsworth, London Born Jamaica 15 December 1962 Fights 36 Won 35 Lost 1 A cheerful, extrovert heavyweight well-guided by Mickey Duff and Terry Lawless, Gary Mason was on the brink of a world title bid when he was stopped in seven rounds by Lennox Lewis. An eye injury in that fi ght forced him to retire. Mason knocked out Hughroy Currie to win the British title in 1989, beat the Olympic gold medallist Tyrell Biggs and looked a likely successor to Frank Bruno before Lewis ended career at the age of 28.

9 RICHARD DUNN Bradford, Yorkshire Born 19 January 1945 Fights 45 Won 33 Lost 12 Dunn’s career blossomed late after he joined the veteran manager George Biddles, who took him to a £100,000 payday against Muhammad Ali for the world tite in Munich in !976. Dunn, a southpaw with a down-to-earth approach, gave everything he had but was rescued, after several knockdowns, in round five. Unlike Joe Bugner, who was pilloried for a negative performance against Ali the previous year, Dunn was considered a hero.

10 HERBIE HIDE Norwich Born Nigeria 27 August 1971 Fights 39 Won 35 Lost 4 Hide was a fast, accurate, hard puncher who won the minor World Boxing Organisation version of the championship by knocking out the London-born American, Michael Bentt, in seven rounds at Millwall football ground in 1994. He lost it in six rounds to Riddick Bowe, regained it with a two-round demolition of another former champion, Tony Tucker, but fell apart in two rounds against Vitali Klitschko in 1999.

11 DANNY WILLIAMS Brixton Born 13 July 1973 Fights 37 Won 33 Lost 4 After years of underachievement, Williams’ true ability emerged when he knocked out Mike Tyson in four rounds in Louisville, Kentucky, on a stormy night in July 2004. Williams’ boxing skills had never been in doubt, but he blew previous opportunities by growing too tense. Unfortunately, that was followed by a night when everything went wrong – when he was cut up, knocked down and beaten in eight rounds by world champ Vitali Klitschko.

12 JOHN L GARDNER Hackney, London Born 19 March 1953 Fights 39 Won 35 Lost 4 Gardner enjoyed the protection of being nursed along by Terry Lawless and Mickey Duff, but his speed and aggression took him to the edge of world class at the turn of the 1980s. He won the British and Commonwealth titles by stopping Billy Aird and stopped Rudi Gauwe and Lorenzo Zanon, a world title challenger from Italy, in European title fights. Michael Dokes ruined his world title dream with a fourth round knockout in 1981.

13 BUNNY JOHNSON Birmingham Born Jamaica 10 May 1947 Fights 73 Won 55 Lost 17 Drawn 1 Bunny Johnson was only really only a natural light-heavyweight, but held the British and Commonwealth titles at heavyweight too. He could box, and had a powerful right hand… as he showed when he knocked out Danny McAlinden to become champion in 1975. He had a crack at world class but found the former Olympic rep from the USA, Duane Bobick, too big for hiom

14 AUDLEY HARRISON Brent Born 26 October 1971 Fights 19 Won 19 Audley Harrison’s achievement in winning the super-heavyweight gold medal at the Sydney Olympics is enough to put him among the best British big men of the last 40 years. Yes, he still has it all to do as a professional and is already 34 years old, but his demonstration of his mastery of the amateur code in Sydney was magical and heartwarming. He was the first British boxer to win an Olympic gold for 32 years.

15 DANNY McALINDEN Coventry Born Newry, Northern Ireland, 1 June 1947 Fights 45 Won 31 Lost 12 Drawn 2 McAlinden produced a swashbuckling two round demolition of Jack Bodell to win the British and Commonwealth titles and send the Derbyshire southpaw into retirement. Injuries wrecked his progress., He was unfortunate to be overshadowed by Joe Bugner, but did box in Madison Square Garden on the night of the first fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. He beat Ali’s brother Rahman.

16 HORACE NOTICE West Bromwich Born 7 August 1957 Fights 16 Won 16 The career of Horace Notice was ruined by a retina injury when he was still approaching his peak. He was unbeaten, if not overly experienced, but was good enough to win a Lonsdale Belt outright in his brief time at the top of the British tree in the 1980s. Notice was also Commonwealth champion and was also ABA heavyweight champion in 1983.

17 MATT SKELTON Bedford Born 23 January 1967 Fights 17 Won 17 We still don’t know how far the powerful slugger from Bedford can go. He defends his British heavyweight title against John McDermott on Saturday’s show. Skelton beat Michael Sprott on a 12th round knockout to become champion in April 2004 but a fight with Audley Harrison fell apart at the negotiating table. The former martial arts pro want to box for a version of the world title sooner rather than later as he’ll be 39 in January.

18 DEREK WILLIAMS Peckham Born 11 March 1965 Derek Williams was good enough to hold the European and Commonwealth titles in the early 1990s before he bumped into Lennox Lewis and was beaten in three rounds at the Royal Albert Hall in 1992. Williams had good skills and could punch, but was just short of the top level. He is now a promoter.

19 BILLY WALKER West Ham Born 3 March 1939 Billy Walker made a fortune in the ring as the Golden Boy of the British heavyweight division in the 1960s. He was one of the few who could fill Wembley’s old Empire Pool arena. He did not win a title, but fought with pride against Henry Cooper for the British crown and the Geran favourite Karl Mildenberger for the European title. He first made his name by flattening a giant American, Cornelius Perry, when England’s amateurs whitewashed the USA.

20 JAMES OYEBOLA Paddington Born Nigeria 10 June 1961 ‘Big Bad’ James Oyebola stood a formidable 6ft 9in and was one of the more colourful heavyweights of the 1990s. He knocked out Scott Welch in five rounds in Atlantic City and then did the same to Clifton Mitchell for the British crown in Cardiff. Sadly, he failed to develop, lost a rematch with Welch and retired in 1996.

Podmore_Birmingham · Post by **Podmore_Birmingham** » 08 Dec 2005, 09:58

Dunny is a legend . I will never forget the speech (admitdley i wasnt born at the time) he made after Bugner knocked him out in one round.

" Im still young......... tell me im still young!!!!!"

Tom Podmore

J · Post by J » 08 Dec 2005, 10:00

fuckinell who wrote that?

no Don cockell no Bruce woodcock and no joe esrkine.

Podmore_Birmingham · Post by **Podmore_Birmingham** » 08 Dec 2005, 10:08

Bruce Woodcock would have been a world champion had he been a bit bigger the man wasnt short on ablity thats for sure.

Tom Podmore.

J · Post by J » 08 Dec 2005, 10:09

and no fornicating tommy farr?

its a disgrace that list.

Coconut · Post by **Coconut** » 08 Dec 2005, 10:11

I agree, J, there's some big ommissions and some pretty ordinary guys in their place.

The by-line is Bob Mee, who is reasonably highly thought-of. Surprising.

J · Post by J » 08 Dec 2005, 10:13

yes mate he must have been on the sauce

My T Sharp · Post by **My T Sharp** » 08 Dec 2005, 10:17

Boxrec list is better, but not perfect.

http://www.boxrec.com/ratings.php?natio ... &SUBMIT=Go

Don't know how he got Skelton in there

kevin · Post by **kevin** » 08 Dec 2005, 11:15

BBN did one back in July 2004, I don't think it would have changed since

http://www.britishboxing.net/news_465-B ... ights.html

Kev

dandantheweatherman · Post by **dandantheweatherman** » 08 Dec 2005, 13:31

Maybe it's only a post-war list because Bob Fitzsimmons isn't there either?

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 08 Dec 2005, 13:41

dandantheweatherman wrote:Maybe it's only a post-war list because Bob Fitzsimmons isn't there either?

That's exactly what I was thinking.

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 08 Dec 2005, 13:43

dandantheweatherman wrote:Maybe it's only a post-war list because Bob Fitzsimmons isn't there either?

Must be of the last 40 years or something. Even so...

Podmore_Birmingham · Post by **Podmore_Birmingham** » 09 Dec 2005, 08:51

Bruce Woodcock - what a fighter , my grandad spared with Bruce Woodcock in the 50's after he'd retired . The man was a class act , my grandad has told me stories about him (what a fighter he sounded). I wish i could have seen his fights , especially the two with Freddie Mills (another legend of the british ring).

It was a shame that Bruce was as small as he was (a cruiserweight by todays standards) , for a man so small he was a vicious hitter 31 KO's in 35 wins.

If he could have made light heavyweight , then the chances are we would have been World champion.

Tom Podmore.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 10 Dec 2005, 07:29

wow, this list was an absolute joke.

guys like tommy farr and don cockell should be in the top 10. they would have absolutley schooled some of the guys on thiss list.

you think a horace norton,bunny johnson, or danny mcalinden would have gone 15 compettive rounds with the greatest heavy ever joe louis, or been able to take 9 rounds of severe punishment from all time puncher rocky marciano?

jack bodell at 5?

wow who ever made this list should be ashamed of themselves for leaving guys like don cockell and tommy farr out let alone joe erkstine, or len harvey.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 10 Dec 2005, 12:58

Hello All....received this e-mail so hope it clears up any of your queries:

Hi
Apologies for bothering you.
I have no idea how to respond to the discussions on the forum on boxrec & I found your email address on the moderators list for the British scene.
If it's possible to pass on a message that might clarify something, I would be grateful. If not, it doesn't matter, but I thought it might be helpful to those who are discussing my assessment of the heavyweights in the Daily Telegraph yesterday.

It was a strange piece to be asked to do, but the instruction for the job was to provide brief pieces on 20 'best' British heavyweights of the last 40 years. Obviously, that took away everybody from Bob Fitzsimmons to Joe Erskine and Dick Richardson.
Given the confusion, to respond to one person's perfectly reasonabIe query, I wasn't on the sauce - but by the time I got to no.5 and 6 I wished I was... The champions omitted are Gordon Ferris, Neville Meade, David Pearce, Hughroy Currie, Scott Welch, Julius Francis, Michael Holden and Michael Sprott.
The order doesn't really matter in that, while we can all argue about it, none of us knows if a peak (whatever that is) Bugner would have beaten a peak Cooper, or if we're weird enough to care, whether a peak Horace Notice would have beaten a peak Matt Skelton.
I hope that helps, but as I said, if this is an inappropriate way to go about clarifying this, please discard it and accept my apologies.

Bob Mee

Bob seems like a genuine top fella

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 10 Dec 2005, 13:12

steve689 wrote:Hello All....received this e-mail so hope it clears up any of your queries:

Hi
Apologies for bothering you.
I have no idea how to respond to the discussions on the forum on boxrec & I found your email address on the moderators list for the British scene.
If it's possible to pass on a message that might clarify something, I would be grateful. If not, it doesn't matter, but I thought it might be helpful to those who are discussing my assessment of the heavyweights in the Daily Telegraph yesterday.

It was a strange piece to be asked to do, but the instruction for the job was to provide brief pieces on 20 'best' British heavyweights of the last 40 years. Obviously, that took away everybody from Bob Fitzsimmons to Joe Erskine and Dick Richardson.
Given the confusion, to respond to one person's perfectly reasonabIe query, I wasn't on the sauce - but by the time I got to no.5 and 6 I wished I was... The champions omitted are Gordon Ferris, Neville Meade, David Pearce, Hughroy Currie, Scott Welch, Julius Francis, Michael Holden and Michael Sprott.
The order doesn't really matter in that, while we can all argue about it, none of us knows if a peak (whatever that is) Bugner would have beaten a peak Cooper, or if we're weird enough to care, whether a peak Horace Notice would have beaten a peak Matt Skelton.
I hope that helps, but as I said, if this is an inappropriate way to go about clarifying this, please discard it and accept my apologies.

Bob Mee

Bob seems like a genuine top fella

Thanks for posting that Steve

I've always enjoyed reading Bob Mee's work, the guy obviously has a great knowledge about Boxing.

It also underlines the fact that it is much easier to pick faults with other peoples top 10's (and we have all done that) than putting together your own.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 10 Dec 2005, 15:00

I find it strange that neither Fitzsimmons, Farr, Woodcock or Cockell are in the list!!!

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 10 Dec 2005, 15:02

silkov wrote:I find it strange that neither Fitzsimmons, Farr, Woodcock or Cockell are in the list!!!

It's a list of the last 40 years only.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 10 Dec 2005, 15:24

KOJOE90 wrote:
silkov wrote:I find it strange that neither Fitzsimmons, Farr, Woodcock or Cockell are in the list!!!
It's a list of the last 40 years only.

Christ! now I understand! no wonder he wished he was on the sauce!... I suppose the world of journalism thinks that the publics memory can't stretch back further than 40 years! :x

Manos de Oro · Post by **Manos de Oro** » 10 Dec 2005, 15:28

Bob Mee is obviously a meticulous statistician, his name appears everywhere. However, I think he puts a bit too much emphasis on 'world' titles in his list, and I'm more inclined to agree with the BBN one - particularly with regards the Cooper and Bruno rankings: e.g. I rate some of Cooper's domestic wins higher than most of those dodgy international imports which bolster big Frank's record.

Manos de Oro · Post by **Manos de Oro** » 10 Dec 2005, 15:30

silkov wrote:
KOJOE90 wrote:
silkov wrote:I find it strange that neither Fitzsimmons, Farr, Woodcock or Cockell are in the list!!!
It's a list of the last 40 years only.
Christ! now I understand! no wonder he wished he was on the sauce!... I suppose the world of journalism thinks that the publics memory can't stretch back further than 40 years! :x

I think it's to do with marketing. Lanky Bob at no.1 would not sit well with the average casual mark - who wants to see a big, musclebound, intimidating figure.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 11 Dec 2005, 09:35

Manos de Oro wrote:
silkov wrote:
KOJOE90 wrote: It's a list of the last 40 years only.
Christ! now I understand! no wonder he wished he was on the sauce!... I suppose the world of journalism thinks that the publics memory can't stretch back further than 40 years! :x
I think it's to do with marketing. Lanky Bob at no.1 would not sit well with the average casual mark - who wants to see a big, musclebound, intimidating figure.

I doubt that there are many journalists today who know who Fitzsimmons was. The qualification for being a boxing journalist today is having seen a few Naz fights and Benn vs Eubank 1... if you've seen any of Henry Coopers fights you qualifiy as an historian... 8)

ILikeBeer · Post by **ILikeBeer** » 11 Dec 2005, 09:38

DANNY WILLIAMS After years of underachievement, Williams’ true ability emerged when he knocked out Mike Tyson in four rounds in Louisville, Kentucky

J · Post by J » 12 Dec 2005, 08:45

steve689 wrote:Hello All....received this e-mail so hope it clears up any of your queries:

Hi
Apologies for bothering you.
I have no idea how to respond to the discussions on the forum on boxrec & I found your email address on the moderators list for the British scene.
If it's possible to pass on a message that might clarify something, I would be grateful. If not, it doesn't matter, but I thought it might be helpful to those who are discussing my assessment of the heavyweights in the Daily Telegraph yesterday.

It was a strange piece to be asked to do, but the instruction for the job was to provide brief pieces on 20 'best' British heavyweights of the last 40 years. Obviously, that took away everybody from Bob Fitzsimmons to Joe Erskine and Dick Richardson.
Given the confusion, to respond to one person's perfectly reasonabIe query, I wasn't on the sauce - but by the time I got to no.5 and 6 I wished I was... The champions omitted are Gordon Ferris, Neville Meade, David Pearce, Hughroy Currie, Scott Welch, Julius Francis, Michael Holden and Michael Sprott.
The order doesn't really matter in that, while we can all argue about it, none of us knows if a peak (whatever that is) Bugner would have beaten a peak Cooper, or if we're weird enough to care, whether a peak Horace Notice would have beaten a peak Matt Skelton.
I hope that helps, but as I said, if this is an inappropriate way to go about clarifying this, please discard it and accept my apologies.

Bob Mee

Bob seems like a genuine top fella

NICE ONE and a fella with a sense of humour.

cheers for clarifying Steve.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 12 Dec 2005, 13:17

He does come across as a good bloke doesn't he? Fair play Bob

Anyway the e mail nearly slipped through the net, for some unknown reason i checked my junk mail folder which is something i never ever do and low and behold it had found it's way in from the day before...the moral of the story don't judge Boxing list makers and always check your junk box