AT greatest Welsh fighter

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 30 Dec 2006, 23:37

I'm kind of undecided between Freddy Welsh and Jimmy Wilde.

john2345 · Post by **john2345** » 31 Dec 2006, 05:55

I logged in to vote for Howard Winstone......J

Kelly young · Post by **Kelly young** » 31 Dec 2006, 07:55

i have voted on joe but i must say i am shocked that no mention of colin jones in his day he was the man he fought the best and always had a punchers chance i remember when he fought he knocked out kirklan laing
in the twelve round.

JC · Post by JC » 31 Dec 2006, 07:57

I voted for Wilde it's between him and Driscoll for me, Howard Winstone definately needs to be in there.

glittermonkey · Post by **glittermonkey** » 31 Dec 2006, 08:25

I don't know what you're hoping to prove with this one Pundit. Calzaghe will almost certainly come out top, if only because everyone here has seen him fight.

dookus · Post by **dookus** » 31 Dec 2006, 12:36

Wilde, absolutely without question

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 31 Dec 2006, 13:23

glittermonkey wrote:I don't know what you're hoping to prove with this one Pundit. Calzaghe will almost certainly come out top, if only because everyone here has seen him fight.

Just wanna see what people think.

Could a mod extend the list of choices to Howard Winstone and Colin Jones, please (although I personally would rank them below the four folks listed)?

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 31 Dec 2006, 13:37

pundit wrote:Could mod extend the list of choices to Howard Winstone and Colin Jones, please (although I personally would rank the below the four folks listed)?

Done.

I voted for Jimmy Wilde.

rhino222 · Post by **rhino222** » 31 Dec 2006, 13:39

what about johnny owen ??

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 31 Dec 2006, 13:53

KOJOE90 wrote:
pundit wrote:Could mod extend the list of choices to Howard Winstone and Colin Jones, please (although I personally would rank the below the four folks listed)?
Done.

I voted for Jimmy Wilde.

Thanks mate.

el_grande_mauro_mina · Post by **el_grande_mauro_mina** » 31 Dec 2006, 14:14

A bigger selection would have been good, Johnny Owen could have
been there, Eddie Thomas he was an unbeaten British and European
welterweight champion and if Colin Jones is there so should Brian
Curvis.

Joe Erskine beat Henry Cooper twice, Willie Pastrano and George
Chuvalo in Canada and he could have been put in the mix.

But I picked Howard Winstone who would have been a great undisputed
world champion if it wasn't for Vicente Salvidar.

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 31 Dec 2006, 14:20

Carlos-Wigan wrote:A bigger selection would have been good, Johnny Owen could have
been there, Eddie Thomas he was an unbeaten British and European
welterweight champion and if Colin Jones is there so should Brian
Curvis.

Joe Erskine beat Henry Cooper twice, Willie Pastrano and George
Chuvalo in Canada and he could have been put in the mix.

I don't dispute that there have been more world class Welsh fighters, but the question here is who was the greatest, not who were the top 10, and would you seriously rate any of Owen, Thomas, Curvis, Erskine above Jimmy Wilde or Freddie Welsh? Even Colin Jones, as much as I like the guy for his guts and courage, isn't quite at the same level; whenever he stepped up to world level he got beaten, and Don Curry schooled him (this said, prime Curry for me is a top 50 ATG pfp).

knockout · Post by **knockout** » 31 Dec 2006, 14:40

The fact that some people aren't voting for Jimmy Wilde saddens me....

Check out some of his achievements and then come back and tell me Joe C is better than him.

Actually just got of the phone to Sports Network and they assure me its either Joe or Enzo

lvlarc · Post by **lvlarc** » 31 Dec 2006, 14:56

Wilde. Best Flyweight of all time, often considered a top 10 P4P. His record is phenomenal, avenged 2 of his defeats and the others were at the end of his career.

But honestly, how can anyone say with certainty that he was the greatest when there is only very little footage of the man, and most of which is bad quality.

Owain · Post by **Owain** » 31 Dec 2006, 15:16

Here are two polls which you may find interesting:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/1899436.stm

http://pub35.bravenet.com/vote/stats.ph ... 2936868416

In an unashamed plug, if you want to read more about all of the above boxers before you cast your vote here, then read about them on the http://www.johnnyowen.com website.

For me, it's a no contest - JIMMY WILDE by far

Taki... · Post by **Taki...** » 31 Dec 2006, 17:00

Jimmy Wilde... is #1.

He wasn't great but I did love watching the welsh version of the cinderella man; Steve Robinson.

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 31 Dec 2006, 17:30

Owain wrote:Here are two polls which you may find interesting:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/1899436.stm

That's a good list.

Chesney_Chambers · Post by **Chesney_Chambers** » 31 Dec 2006, 18:53

rhino222 wrote:what about johnny owen ??

He definately deserves a mention

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 31 Dec 2006, 21:02

Taki... wrote:Jimmy Wilde... is #1.

He wasn't great but I did love watching the welsh version of the cinderella man; Steve Robinson.

Think Robinson would deserve to be in such a poll, of course he wouldn't win it (Jimmy Wilde could well win an world wide all time great poll). However, if the poll was 6-7 fighters long - I think he could be mentioned.

TheRiverCityHippy · Post by **TheRiverCityHippy** » 01 Jan 2007, 02:07

i`ve gone for the `ghost with a hammer in his hand.`
thats a pretty respectable list for a really small nation, a lot of big cities have a much bigger population than wales.
i once read that jimmy build his terrific strength by working in the coal mines that were once the economic backbone of wales. the mines and their communities bred tough men.
its often been levelled at thatcher that since she shut all the pits down the welsh rugby team hasnt had a decent pack of forwards.

glittermonkey · Post by **glittermonkey** » 01 Jan 2007, 07:18

Thank God I'm being proved wrong. Faith restored.

yiddo14 · Post by **yiddo14** » 01 Jan 2007, 10:45

Jimmy Wilde,without the slightest hesitation

One of the true p4p all time greats.Arguably Britains second greatest ever fighter.

Alex · Post by **Alex** » 01 Jan 2007, 10:55

Without a doubt Jimmy Wilde. Should have made this a poll for the second greatest Welsh fighter of all time.

I'd have put Tommy Farr ahead of Calzaghe and Colin Jones.

states · Post by **states** » 01 Jan 2007, 13:34

yiddo14 wrote:Jimmy Wilde,without the slightest hesitation

One of the true p4p all time greats.Arguably Britains second greatest ever fighter.

Behind who? Not knocking you, just curious as to your choice.

As for the poll, it's Wilde all the way. No-one will ever usurp him, not with boxing the way it is today.

lamphey · Post by **lamphey** » 02 Jan 2007, 16:43

You could choose anyone between Wilde, Driscoll or Welsh ...... but my vote goes to Freddie Welsh.

In my opinion he faced and beat the greater opposition. Also, he was likely past his best when he won the title ....... he was well into his 29th year when he became champion, pretty old for those times.

Although a great fighter, I don't quite buy into the legend of Jimmy Wilde totally. We get shown those skeletal pictures of him with the musculature of a stick insect but they were taken very early in his career. He may have been a physical freak but I can't accept he weighed in fully clothed and soaking wet on the scales at barely 7 stone then proceeds to knock-out Lightweights, Welterweights, Middleweights, etc

And much like it used to be with Holyfield ....... it seems that every one of his defeats had an explanation to dismiss it.

I own the complete run of Boxing/Boxing News through Wilde's career, in which he receives extensive coverage, and have read the greater majority of ringside reports of his fights. Once he had arrived at national level ...... I just don't know who these "Goliath's" are who greatly out-sized him.

He was undoubtedly a great fighter ...... but there is one hell of a lot of bollocks spoken about him.

AT greatest Welsh fighter

Who was/is the greatest Welsh fighter ever

AT greatest Welsh fighter