BoxRec

I dont think anyone should be knighted simply for a sporting achievement or their work in music. That's what gold medals and Grammy awards are for. It's ludicrous. Only if they've done an exceptional amount of charity work like say, geldof.

They dish 'em out like sweets now.

Glyn Rhodes got an MBE too.

It's very rare for a sportsman to get knighted during their career, even guys like Bobby Charlton were very old when they were knighted. It tends to have to involve their work post career too.
Lennox could get knighted in about ten years, although it would probably have helped if he'd won a gold medal for Britain and lived here.

stevieb_8006 wrote:I dont think anyone should be knighted simply for a sporting achievement or their work in music. That's what gold medals and Grammy awards are for. It's ludicrous. Only if they've done an exceptional amount of charity work like say, geldof.

They dish 'em out like sweets now.

My point exactly.
(except the Geldof thing of course ..)

Its their job. Lots of people everyday put in as much effort to their day jobs. Without having the support crews top athletes have once their training is done (Wiggins etc had special pillows made so they could get a better sleep, and thats without mentioning the dieticians, physios and everybody else pampering them whilst off the bike).
Yes these sports people are amazing athletes. But often from early ages they are given the advantages to make this possible.
Very few of these Olympic medal winners had to work 40hrs a week ontop of their training.

The honours list in it's current format is far out dated in terms of modern society. We are a democracy, which in real terms should suggest a knighthood meant sh*t all anyway.

I'd say only Watson out of them three

The only fighters I'd knight would be.

Mguigan & Watson

As said achievements are awarded with gold medals,world titles etc.
Knighthoods should come down to community representation & being a good clean role model.
People clean there pasts up & do better some dirty them after success like John conteh I suppose

I think Cooper was knighted not purely for his considerable boxing achievements but because he was a pillar of society, spoke well, never got in bother, a real role model.

hurlock wrote:I'd say only Watson out of them three

The only fighters I'd knight would be.

Mguigan & Watson

As said achievements are awarded with gold medals,world titles etc.
Knighthoods should come down to community representation & being a good clean role model.
People clean there pasts up & do better some dirty them after success like John conteh I suppose

Both men would be worthy for there work in and out the ring.
Good shout.

handsofstone wrote:It something thats irked me for years why Dick Mctaggart,Audley Harrison,James DeGale etc and now Anthony Joshua,Luke Campbell and Nicola Adams dont get the ultimate honour whearas people like Kelly Holmes.chris hoy do,its ok for them to get multiple medals they get to compete in different events doing the same thing,of course theres more oppurtunities to win more medals.Boxings the ultimate tournament where you have to fight your way to the final.Kelly Holmes runs twice(or something like that) and gets made a dame .typical British snobbery if you ask me,we,ve only had 1 boxing sir

Time was every Hungarian born crook in Sydney had a knighthood. Bob Askin when premier of NSW used to sell them for 60 grand.

Lewis Olympic medal medal was a Canadian one & he does conduct himself with grace & class. But he has spent little time here & not really a resident & IMO uses the British for publicity trappings.
He should have an mbe but not knighted.

hurlock wrote:Lewis Olympic medal medal was a Canadian one & he does conduct himself with grace & class. But he has spent little time here & not really a resident & IMO uses the British for publicity trappings.
He should have an mbe but not knighted.

Lennox Claudius Lewis is an MBE CBE. If he gets knighted then it will all be in good time because he's an all round good egg. Just like Sir Henry being a great bloke and us loving him too. Ricky Hatton was not an Olympian but he got his just desserts (MBE) and so I expect Carl Froch to be awarded before long. Just read up that Rob McCracken was awarded an MBE so fair play to him too, he deserved it also. GSTQ.

MBE'S are the lowest gongs.

Cricketers usually start at OBE's funnily enough.

Good shout though. Sir Lloyd Honeyghan has a ring to it. Stopped the pound for pound great Don Curry.

Did Lloyd get anything?

plymouthskinhead wrote:

hurlock wrote:Lewis Olympic medal medal was a Canadian one & he does conduct himself with grace & class. But he has spent little time here & not really a resident & IMO uses the British for publicity trappings.
He should have an mbe but not knighted.

Lennox Claudius Lewis is an MBE CBE. If he gets knighted then it will all be in good time because he's an all round good egg. Just like Sir Henry being a great bloke and us loving him too. Ricky Hatton was not an Olympian but he got his just desserts (MBE) and so I expect Carl Froch to be awarded before long. Just read up that Rob McCracken was awarded an MBE so fair play to him too, he deserved it also. GSTQ.

Lennox Lewis will never get a knighthood as long as holds Canadian citizenhip.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1395570.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_v._Chr%C3%A9tien

STRATHMAN wrote:MBE'S are the lowest gongs.

Cricketers usually start at OBE's funnily enough.

Good shout though. Sir Lloyd Honeyghan has a ring to it. Stopped the pound for pound great Don Curry.

Did Lloyd get anything?

Was a massive achievement as curry was your sugar ray Leonard / mayweather

Honeyghans old amateur trainer who he pleaded to turn pro with him who spent endless hours in the gymnasium with him turning him into the article he was & continued to work with kids & unlike other trainers who heap praise like tony burns, the late mick carney, Steve hiser would be there taking pads putting in the hard work & helping lost causes. The man has finally been awarded an mbe after over 40+ years & he still doesn't want accolades! A proper good person!

what does it matter anyway. a reward or merit from the aristocracy/ government, that continues to pocket the lions share of the countries resources, keep people in poverty, whole fukken system is corrupt as fukk. im amazed that people still accept these mbes obes khnighthoods etc. iknow i will never be in a position to receive one , but if one was ever offered , they'd be told to stick it up their arses. the list of the rich and famous who have these awards is littered with evil bastards.

jimcook wrote:what does it matter anyway. a reward or merit from the aristocracy/ government, that continues to pocket the lions share of the countries resources, keep people in poverty, whole fukken system is corrupt as fukk. im amazed that people still accept these mbes obes khnighthoods etc. iknow i will never be in a position to receive one , but if one was ever offered , they'd be told to stick it up their arses. the list of the rich and famous who have these awards is littered with evil bastards.

Totally agree.

God save the queen?? What an absolute joke. Those people (the Windsors) wouldn't even piss on us common people. And for good measure we part finance their privileged lifestyles.

I honestly dont understand why we don't yet live in a republic.

Brute wrote: Time was every Hungarian born crook in Sydney had a knighthood. Bob Askin when premier of NSW used to sell them for 60 grand.

Tell us about all those bent coppers you used to work with, Brute.

hurlock wrote:Wasn't Henry cooper knighted???

Can't really think if many fighters I'd knight to be honest???

Barry mguigan??

Frank Maloney

McGuigan would be in his ally...love that stuff more British than Irish

liamlion wrote:

jimcook wrote:what does it matter anyway. a reward or merit from the aristocracy/ government, that continues to pocket the lions share of the countries resources, keep people in poverty, whole fukken system is corrupt as fukk. im amazed that people still accept these mbes obes khnighthoods etc. iknow i will never be in a position to receive one , but if one was ever offered , they'd be told to stick it up their arses. the list of the rich and famous who have these awards is littered with evil bastards.

Totally agree.

God save the queen?? What an absolute joke. Those people (the Windsors) wouldn't even piss on us common people. And for good measure we part finance their privileged lifestyles.

I honestly dont understand why we don't yet live in a republic.

I agree..these mbes-knighthood etc are a waste of taxpayers money

Thing is, too many get them too easy. The default reward for the dedication the athletes have shown is gold medals and sponsorship deals. I couldn't care less about the honours personally, I just think dishing them out to well funded and expertly trained teenagers who already reap the benefits of their success devalues them further. Of course there are exceptions, I wouldn't argue against Redgrave, Hoy etc

I don't really follow or care who gets knighthoods, to be honest. So my opinion may not be that informed.

However, is there any reason other than snobbery over what is still perceived as a working class sport?

I don't believe knighthoods should be awarded for entertainment or sporting people, anyway. I believe they should only be awarded to people that make real contributions to society. Either through invention or charity work or whatever.

But being that they do award them to sports personalities, then it's hard to see why Lennox Lewis didn't get one. The only reason I can think of is it's not seen as "worthy" because it's two people hitting each other.

As said above, you can only win one medal per games anyway. Unlike running or swimming where you can gold medals over different distances in the same games.

Boxers' aren't going to be knighted to in a hurry. Knighthoods are for stellar, hardworking recipients like this guy:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comm ... llow.html#

Ken Blood got one a while back.

mimmy123 wrote:

taffytoon wrote:Sir Henry Cooper was the only boxer ever knighted. Sad really

Would he have been knighted if he hadn't knocked down Clay? or made a shit aftershave ad? What did Cooper do in the ring that was so special?

That advert wasn't shit mate.

Hagler2002 wrote:It's all middle class wankery anyway!

Ffs Jimmy Savile still hasn't been stripped of his OBE, maybe they think his charity work far outweighs his rampant noncery.

Your title dies when you do so stripping would be pretty much pointless now, at least that's my understanding of it.

hurlock wrote:Wasn't Henry cooper knighted???

Can't really think if many fighters I'd knight to be honest???

Barry mguigan??

Frank Maloney

I genuinely never understood why Henry Cooper was knighted. With respect, he was a decent but not genuinely world class fighter and he never held a world title. Yes, he knocked down Ali but surely for a knighthood which is the ultimate accolade you have to do something pretty extraordinary.

Lennox Lewis should definitely have received one given he unified the division and was widely recognised as the best heavyweight in the world for about 4 or 5 years at a time when the division was still decent.