Best run of world class wins by a Brit

[TheGman]

Lennox had several very good runs of world class wins punctuated by the losses to McCall and Rahman

Lennox had great resume, but as for runs - they were "interrupted" by the opponents like Phil Jackson, Michael Grant and Francois Botha, neither of whom was even remotedly close to the level of Pascal, Taylor or Dirrell.

Michael grant came off a great win against andrew golota and he was unbeaten,meant to be americans next big thing,he was athletic 6,7 i think,the yanks were raving about him so id take grant off this list mate,fair enough lewis disposed of him with ease but Ruddock Golota Morrison Grant even Tucker were all neant to test Lennox Lewis and he coped with these easily

[bigjack]

Lennox had several very good runs of world class wins punctuated by the losses to McCall and Rahman

Lennox had great resume, but as for runs - they were "interrupted" by the opponents like Phil Jackson, Michael Grant and Francois Botha, neither of whom was even remotedly close to the level of Pascal, Taylor or Dirrell.

Michael grant came off a great win against andrew golota and he was unbeaten,meant to be americans next big thing,he was athletic 6,7 i think,the yanks were raving about him so id take grant off this list mate,fair enough lewis disposed of him with ease but Ruddock Golota Morrison Grant even Tucker were all neant to test Lennox Lewis and he coped with these easily

Golota was the only time i've picked against Lewis and look what happened there.

[Tuan_Jim]

Woah, slow down. Kevin Kelley still had talent and earned his shot at Naz with an astonishing coMe from behind KO of the very difficult Derrick Gainer.

Can you to find a contemporaneous write up that doesn't make reference to how vulnerable Kelly had been looking lately? The fight program doesn't count.

There's a reason why he had begun boxing for WBU titles, against 17-3 type fighters like 'Smoke' Gainer.

Kevin Kelley was in the featherweight top 10 when he faced Naz. Derrick Gainer was an incredibly difficult opponent. Kelley turned the fight around in spectacular fashion - on HBO’s great Boxing After Dark series - & he followed that fight of the year candidate, with another against Naz. KK was always vulnerable. Look at his great fightwith Troy Dorsey as a prospect. Or his world title triumph versus Goyo Vargas. All fights that he was within a pudendum’s hair of losing.

The defeat to Alejandro Gonzalez by stoppage was another remarkable battle against a good fighter that he had moments in. He would follow that disappointment with a thriller against Ricardo Rivera, where he had to come from behind to score a late KO of a fellow southpaw. His career was always in fits and starts, and he’d follow consecutive defeats to Naz, Gainer (in disappointing rematch) & Morales with a fine victory over future lightweight title holder Humberto Soto, yet another thriller.

Kelley was worthy. Of course, there’s no doubt that there was considerable handicapping in Naz’s fights, when Naz was at his peak of speed and athleticism, and taking on fighters who had slowed down ever so slightly, fighters who perhaps weren’t quicksilver to begin with.

Your final paragraph is in agreement with my original post you disagreed with!

[TheGman]

Lennox had great resume, but as for runs - they were "interrupted" by the opponents like Phil Jackson, Michael Grant and Francois Botha, neither of whom was even remotedly close to the level of Pascal, Taylor or Dirrell.

Michael grant came off a great win against andrew golota and he was unbeaten,meant to be americans next big thing,he was athletic 6,7 i think,the yanks were raving about him so id take grant off this list mate,fair enough lewis disposed of him with ease but Ruddock Golota Morrison Grant even Tucker were all neant to test Lennox Lewis and he coped with these easily

Golota was the only time i've picked against Lewis and look what happened there.

It was an assault lol

[Crease]

Carl Frampton's 5-fight run was pretty impressive...

Beating Santa Cruz after moving up in weight to fight The Number One at that weight class.
Beating Quigg in a unification
Defending against Gonzalez (after having serious problems in making the weight)
Defending against Avalos (the to-ranked USA fighter in the division and ranked 5th behind Frampton, Quigg, LSC & Rigo)
Winning the world title against Martinez.

[Boxing Writer]

Lennox had great resume, but as for runs - they were "interrupted" by the opponents like Phil Jackson, Michael Grant and Francois Botha, neither of whom was even remotedly close to the level of Pascal, Taylor or Dirrell.

Michael grant came off a great win against andrew golota and he was unbeaten,meant to be americans next big thing,he was athletic 6,7 i think,the yanks were raving about him so id take grant off this list mate,fair enough lewis disposed of him with ease but Ruddock Golota Morrison Grant even Tucker were all neant to test Lennox Lewis and he coped with these easily

Golota was the only time i've picked against Lewis and look what happened there.

I picked Lewis to KO Golotain 5, but I was surprised he finished him so quickly

[samwbr]

Carl Frampton's 5-fight run was pretty impressive...

Beating Santa Cruz after moving up in weight to fight The Number One at that weight class.
Beating Quigg in a unification
Defending against Gonzalez (after having serious problems in making the weight)
Defending against Avalos (the to-ranked USA fighter in the division and ranked 5th behind Frampton, Quigg, LSC & Rigo)
Winning the world title against Martinez.

Yeah he was really good in that spell and the finale was a fantastic night. One of the best in recent years by a brit/Irish fighter.

[Taansend]

Not the best ever run but in regards to what he'd achieved Steve Robinson's results in 1993/94 was incredible.

From losing in France to beating Davidson, Murphy, McMillan, Hoko, Cruz and McKenzie - all in the space of 18 months.

Some very good fighters in that group and a bloke with 9 losses in 23 fights wasn't supposed to dominate like that.

Shame he got stitched up against Naz. He deserved better.

[jamamb]

Carl Frampton's 5-fight run was pretty impressive...

Beating Santa Cruz after moving up in weight to fight The Number One at that weight class.
Beating Quigg in a unification
Defending against Gonzalez (after having serious problems in making the weight)
Defending against Avalos (the to-ranked USA fighter in the division and ranked 5th behind Frampton, Quigg, LSC & Rigo)
Winning the world title against Martinez.

good run for sure but was avalos really a top 5 in the world fighter?

[littlepug]

Not the best ever run but in regards to what he'd achieved Steve Robinson's results in 1993/94 was incredible.

From losing in France to beating Davidson, Murphy, McMillan, Hoko, Cruz and McKenzie - all in the space of 18 months.

Some very good fighters in that group and a bloke with 9 losses in 23 fights wasn't supposed to dominate like that.

Shame he got stitched up against Naz. He deserved better.

Im sure while he was on that great run he was supposed to be the highest paid feather in the world

[Taansend]

Not the best ever run but in regards to what he'd achieved Steve Robinson's results in 1993/94 was incredible.

From losing in France to beating Davidson, Murphy, McMillan, Hoko, Cruz and McKenzie - all in the space of 18 months.

Some very good fighters in that group and a bloke with 9 losses in 23 fights wasn't supposed to dominate like that.

Shame he got stitched up against Naz. He deserved better.

Im sure while he was on that great run he was supposed to be the highest paid feather in the world

Good. He deserved it. And he deserved to be paid fairly for fighting Naz.

[Coco]

He got a small purse for the Hamed fight, Naz was installed as mandatory, despite never having fought at feather, while Robinson was on holiday.
When he returned from holiday he was told he had to take the fight the following month or be stripped.

[Taansend]

He got a small purse for the Hamed fight, Naz was installed as mandatory, despite never having fought at feather, while Robinson was on holiday.
When he returned from holiday he was told he had to take the fight the following month or be stripped.

If I remember rightly Allegedly had written something into his contract despite knowing it was going to be Naz. I could be wrong though.

But I don't think I am

[bigjack]

He got a small purse for the Hamed fight, Naz was installed as mandatory, despite never having fought at feather, while Robinson was on holiday.
When he returned from holiday he was told he had to take the fight the following month or be stripped.

If I remember rightly Allegedly had written something into his contract despite knowing it was going to be Naz. I could be wrong though.

But I don't think I am

Wazza had some kind of 'special relationship' with the WBO and it would appear he had them eating out of his hand with ratings,mandatories etc.

[Crease]

good run for sure but was avalos really a top 5 in the world fighter?

He was on the Boxrec Rankings (at the time of the fight).

[josco]

Max and Frocch are my standout favourites of recent times, but of the old timers Jimmy Wilde is worth a mention - his record almost defies belief. Never saw hom live of course! :

[josco]

Naz not Max - sorry!

[jamamb]

good run for sure but was avalos really a top 5 in the world fighter?

He was on the Boxrec Rankings (at the time of the fight).

interesting, personally i have a hard time seeing how he was ever legitimately top 5 in the world. i do not consider him to have ever been world class and i really didnt think many did. decent first defense but nothing more really.

[Autobarn]

Can you to find a contemporaneous write up that doesn't make reference to how vulnerable Kelly had been looking lately? The fight program doesn't count.

There's a reason why he had begun boxing for WBU titles, against 17-3 type fighters like 'Smoke' Gainer.

Kevin Kelley was in the featherweight top 10 when he faced Naz. Derrick Gainer was an incredibly difficult opponent. Kelley turned the fight around in spectacular fashion - on HBO’s great Boxing After Dark series - & he followed that fight of the year candidate, with another against Naz. KK was always vulnerable. Look at his great fightwith Troy Dorsey as a prospect. Or his world title triumph versus Goyo Vargas. All fights that he was within a pudendum’s hair of losing.

The defeat to Alejandro Gonzalez by stoppage was another remarkable battle against a good fighter that he had moments in. He would follow that disappointment with a thriller against Ricardo Rivera, where he had to come from behind to score a late KO of a fellow southpaw. His career was always in fits and starts, and he’d follow consecutive defeats to Naz, Gainer (in disappointing rematch) & Morales with a fine victory over future lightweight title holder Humberto Soto, yet another thriller.

Kelley was worthy. Of course, there’s no doubt that there was considerable handicapping in Naz’s fights, when Naz was at his peak of speed and athleticism, and taking on fighters who had slowed down ever so slightly, fighters who perhaps weren’t quicksilver to begin with.

Your final paragraph is in agreement with my original post you disagreed with!

no, just keeping things balanced. Kelley might not be great but he’s good enough, a name who’d earned his shot by knocking out a talented contender, and had enough left maybe not to win, but to put up a terrific effort.

A number of Naz’s foes had serious bodies of work. They might not be in their primes but certainly had experience and were dangerous. In particular Medina would go on to beat Scott Harrison, Kelley would go on to beat Humberto Soto. Medina’s great rival Johnson was still good. McCullough and Bungu were excellent but had little business up at fatherweight it has to be said. Vazquez has perhaps a HoF worthy body of work (as a bantam, he could compete with the Naz level talents, see his classic battles with Galaxy & Lora that could easily have gone his way considering he dropped both in razor thin fights) but was long in the tooth after scoring one of the great featherweight KOs vs Rojas. Robinson and Ingle were world level Brits - the fight with Ingle was memorable, a guy near his peak with an extraordinary engine. The fight was thrilling in the late stages.

Anyway boxing is all about timing, as we know.

[Tuan_Jim]

Kevin Kelley was in the featherweight top 10 when he faced Naz. Derrick Gainer was an incredibly difficult opponent. Kelley turned the fight around in spectacular fashion - on HBO’s great Boxing After Dark series - & he followed that fight of the year candidate, with another against Naz. KK was always vulnerable. Look at his great fightwith Troy Dorsey as a prospect. Or his world title triumph versus Goyo Vargas. All fights that he was within a pudendum’s hair of losing.

The defeat to Alejandro Gonzalez by stoppage was another remarkable battle against a good fighter that he had moments in. He would follow that disappointment with a thriller against Ricardo Rivera, where he had to come from behind to score a late KO of a fellow southpaw. His career was always in fits and starts, and he’d follow consecutive defeats to Naz, Gainer (in disappointing rematch) & Morales with a fine victory over future lightweight title holder Humberto Soto, yet another thriller.

Kelley was worthy. Of course, there’s no doubt that there was considerable handicapping in Naz’s fights, when Naz was at his peak of speed and athleticism, and taking on fighters who had slowed down ever so slightly, fighters who perhaps weren’t quicksilver to begin with.

Your final paragraph is in agreement with my original post you disagreed with!

no, just keeping things balanced. Kelley might not be great but he’s good enough, a name who’d earned his shot by knocking out a talented contender, and had enough left maybe not to win, but to put up a terrific effort.

A number of Naz’s foes had serious bodies of work. They might not be in their primes but certainly had experience and were dangerous. In particular Medina would go on to beat Scott Harrison, Kelley would go on to beat Humberto Soto. Medina’s great rival Johnson was still good. McCullough and Bungu were excellent but had little business up at fatherweight it has to be said. Vazquez has perhaps a HoF worthy body of work (as a bantam, he could compete with the Naz level talents, see his classic battles with Galaxy & Lora that could easily have gone his way considering he dropped both in razor thin fights) but was long in the tooth after scoring one of the great featherweight KOs vs Rojas. Robinson and Ingle were world level Brits - the fight with Ingle was memorable, a guy near his peak with an extraordinary engine. The fight was thrilling in the late stages.

Anyway boxing is all about timing, as we know.

In other words, every single Naz opponent needed an asterix or "but" next to their name, which is exactly why they were matched with him.

It's not a misconception that MAB was the first young, prime, properly dangerous fighter Naz faced. That really was the case. And that makes his record suspect, his favouring of the WBO belt telling, and his accomplishments overall less impressive than other Brits.

[Autobarn]

Not really.

Boxing isn’t always about putting people in time machines and matching “prime for prime”. How many times did Jones Jr and Mayweather do that, without age or weightmaking related asterisks?

Naz knocked out some good fighters still holding titles, had some uglynights, some spectacular KO wins and some seriously exciting shootouts.

People tend to overanalyse things.

[bripez]

Not really.

Boxing isn’t always about putting people in time machines and matching “prime for prime”. How many times did Jones Jr and Mayweather do that, without age or weightmaking related asterisks?

People tend to overanalyse things.

True.

Not only that, people try to argue that a "prime boxer x" would beat "boxer y" (and not even a "prime boxer y) if you know what I mean ?

[Autobarn]

Not the best ever run but in regards to what he'd achieved Steve Robinson's results in 1993/94 was incredible.

From losing in France to beating Davidson, Murphy, McMillan, Hoko, Cruz and McKenzie - all in the space of 18 months.

Some very good fighters in that group and a bloke with 9 losses in 23 fights wasn't supposed to dominate like that.

Shame he got stitched up against Naz. He deserved better.

Definitely Warren wasn’t going to waste an opportunity getting Naz to the world title.

Robsinon certainly had wonderful momentum and was a good fighter to watch. The fights with Murphy, Hopkinson and in particular Davison were superb battles.

And he was efficient & effective vs Freddie Cruz, McKenzie & McMillan.

Are any of his other fights worth checking out? Was he in any other really good scraps?