BoxRec

My vote is Froch - I cannot remember any other British fighter taking on such a consistently high level of opposition in the style he does it. His only poor fight at world level is Dirrell (hardly his fault); he doesn't clinch like Hatton did; he's not content to sit behind the jab like Lennox was (aside, perhaps, from against Abraham, whose face he still turned into a mess), he doesn't run like Khan does when hurt, and he doesn't slap like Calzaghe.

I'd put a Haye a very close second purely on the basis that his style involves a lot more going backwards at Heavyweight (albeit until he hurts the other guy), although he's also awesome to watch. Calzaghe third for his sheer energy and volume of shots (but penalised for his normal level of opposition).

got to be froch he has fought top guys since challenging and winning the world title

Carl Froch, by a country mile. David Haye at Cruiser was very exciting, but his last three heavyweight fights have been pants.

I would also say Froch. Three of his five bouts at the world class level have been FOTY candidates. The guy can get on my nerves but he is a warrior no doubt, and his contradictory combination of massive balls and obvious shortcomings usually combine to produce great fights.

I expect his next few bouts to be good as well. Johnson and Ward are not shy about trading punches, and they don't have Abraham's power, so I suspect that Froch will be looking to engage more than he did in his last fight.

Hatton for me even if he did clinch toward the end

Hatton.

Froch is a good shout, most of his fights in the last 3 years have been awesome. Hatton though is pretty much the only boxer that can have people up at stupid times in the morning for Vegas bills on a regular basis so has to be up there.

Hatton - the man fought Mayweather, Pacquiao and Tszyu. Two #1 P4P and the other probably inside the top #5.

Fair play regarding Hatton; one thing I didn't take into account is how exciting he made British boxing itself for several years!

That's 5 for froch, 5 for hatton so far..

dookus wrote:My vote is Froch - I cannot remember any other British fighter taking on such a consistently high level of opposition in the style he does it. His only poor fight at world level is Dirrell (hardly his fault); he doesn't clinch like Hatton did; he's not content to sit behind the jab like Lennox was (aside, perhaps, from against Abraham, whose face he still turned into a mess), he doesn't run like Khan does when hurt, and he doesn't slap like Calzaghe.

I'd put a Haye a very close second purely on the basis that his style involves a lot more going backwards at Heavyweight (albeit until he hurts the other guy), although he's also awesome to watch. Calzaghe third for his sheer energy and volume of shots (but penalised for his normal level of opposition).

Froch by virtue of quality of opponents followed by Calzaghe.

Ricky Hatton

Froch. Hattons fights were ugly.

Although you can say I am biassed being a Notts boy I am going to say Carl Froch when you take into account he has been with Andre Dirrell, Arthur Abraham, Mikkel Kessler, Jermain Taylor and Jean Pascal of which 3 of them have been former World Champions (abet Abraham and Taylor won their titles down at middleweight) and Pascal a current World champion abet at Light Heavyweight, you cannot accuse him of ducking anyone, he has took on the best around and has shown that he deserves to be on the world stage, and can box or brawl with the best of them you know what you are going to get from the Cobra, talent, power, heart, determination and a massive pair of bollocks.

I've never been a Carl Froch fan (don’t ask me why because even I don’t know) but on the level of Opponent in the last 2-3 years no one can say he isn't prepared to go into the lion’s den and fight the best fighters in his division. Something Calzaghe always promised and failed to deliver on.

Hatton had great fights but his style made some of the lesser opponent’s great fights to watch because of the excitement factor. He could be hit and miss when it came to the big fights to. Great against Koysta. Not so great against Urango, Mayweather, or PacMan. He lacked discipline outside the ring and always left Kerry Kayes, Billy Graham and his body an uphill struggle.

For my money it has to be Froch by split decision

stujones wrote:Hatton - the man fought Mayweather, Pacquiao and Tszyu. Two #1 P4P and the other probably inside the top #5.

The man was amazing, his fights watchable regardless of opponent and only ever sought out the best. Mr Excitement 24/7.

Mooresy wrote:

stujones wrote:Hatton - the man fought Mayweather, Pacquiao and Tszyu. Two #1 P4P and the other probably inside the top #5.

The man was amazing, his fights watchable regardless of opponent and only ever sought out the best. Mr Excitement 24/7.

Have to agree. But best British/European level fighter since 2000 has to be yourself!

Froch without a doubt.

Froch easily for me.

I can't believe people voted for Hatton. His fights were not only not exciting, they were dreadful with the amount of holding he did.

If this question was asked 3 years ago I wonder if Froch would have got the most votes???

I suspect he wouldn't have got one vote,it's his calibre of opponents and how that's created very competitive fights rather than his style that's swaying people I imagine.

froch, hatton, calzaghe, khan and haye in no particular order.

all doin it / did it on the world stage...i'm not goin to fault any of them...fair play to each and every one of them.

woulda loved to have seen calzaghe against froch tho....

Andypittcov wrote:If this question was asked 3 years ago I wonder if Froch would have got the most votes???

I suspect he wouldn't have got one vote,it's his calibre of opponents and how that's created very competitive fights rather than his style that's swaying people I imagine.

3 years ago? Two fights ago I would say. Froch has been in 1 and 1/2 of the best fights involving a brit at world (I say 1/2 because the first half of Kessler vs Froch was dull - but the last half was breathtaking) - and the Pascal fight was a thriller, similar to the Cleverly vs Murat fight but for me a better fight than the Kessler one on the whole.

However, there have been some dull ones also - if you stayed awake long enough you would have got a good ending in the Taylor fight, the Dirrel fight - the only thing that left me dropped jawed at that was the decision. The Abraham fight, fantastic performance, one of the best performances by a British fighter - but a dull fight to watch. I don't know why but although Hatton vs Urango and Calzaghe vs Lacy were one sided also, but I found these fights more enjoyable to watch - I think it is because of the strength of both opponents there seemed to be "a chance" with them - maybe because Urango and Lacy were hyped to be one punch KO artists and Abraham isn't - Abraham relies on strength, and you knew once it could be seen Froch was far bigger and stronger - then it was just a matter of being discaplined. A huge ask non the less and please please please I don't want to sound like I am taking anything away - just I still found Lacy vs Calzaghe fascinating as a CONTEST up until the 8th round - from then on I was just thinking WOW - this is a lesson. Urango vs Hatton I found rivoting all the way through, cause Hatton hadn't taken the fight out of Urango. However, Froch vs Abraham - even though I went for Abraham, the minute Froch imposed that he had superior strength it was Game over for AA and it was a dire "effort" from AA.

Incidently, its not a negative thing - its a very positive thing. One of my performances by a British boxer of the last 20 years would be Lewis vs Tua..... Masterclass, exciting fight - no. Although, arguably more exciting because we knew Lewis could get careless and Tua had one punch KO power.

Lets put in perspective EXCITING to me means hatton with his all out attacks and ferocious pace where he can sometimes make it harder than it needs to be (bar the clinching)

BEST on the other hand HAS TO BE FROCH, yes i sa BEST cus he can box, move, slip and brawl with the world class. So he is right up there now with joe and lewis etc. (better than hatton)

Just not as exciting for every day (i dont normally watch boxing) fan

maxwelljr927 wrote:Lets put in perspective EXCITING to me means hatton with his all out attacks and ferocious pace where he can sometimes make it harder than it needs to be (bar the clinching)

BEST on the other hand HAS TO BE FROCH, yes i sa BEST cus he can box, move, slip and brawl with the world class. So he is right up there now with joe and lewis etc. (better than hatton)

Just not as exciting for every day (i dont normally watch boxing) fan

Hatton proved he could do it also, I agree not all the time and should have done it more often - but he slipped alot of Malignaggi's punches and beat him to the punch and also against Urango. Froch has only done it the once also.

stujones wrote:

maxwelljr927 wrote:Lets put in perspective EXCITING to me means hatton with his all out attacks and ferocious pace where he can sometimes make it harder than it needs to be (bar the clinching)

BEST on the other hand HAS TO BE FROCH, yes i sa BEST cus he can box, move, slip and brawl with the world class. So he is right up there now with joe and lewis etc. (better than hatton)

Just not as exciting for every day (i dont normally watch boxing) fan

Hatton proved he could do it also, I agree not all the time and should have done it more often - but he slipped alot of Malignaggi's punches and beat him to the punch and also against Urango. Froch has only done it the once also.

Hatton was excellent when he decided to box. The Tackie fight was for me his most complete performance but he also showed glimpses of it in the Magee and Oliveria fights as well as those first 4/5 rounds against Urango til he gassed. It's just a shame he preferred to out-muscle his opposition on the inside so often.

Not saying he would have had a different record had he boxed more than brawled, but for me, that was the best Ricky Hatton to watch.

Yeh but the better boxer looks to be froch. Not shared the ring with him tho have done about 150 rds or more with rick. He is ok at boxing but not at frochs level looking at what he did to arthur(50 rds).

stujones wrote:

maxwelljr927 wrote:Lets put in perspective EXCITING to me means hatton with his all out attacks and ferocious pace where he can sometimes make it harder than it needs to be (bar the clinching)

BEST on the other hand HAS TO BE FROCH, yes i sa BEST cus he can box, move, slip and brawl with the world class. So he is right up there now with joe and lewis etc. (better than hatton)

Just not as exciting for every day (i dont normally watch boxing) fan

Hatton proved he could do it also, I agree not all the time and should have done it more often - but he slipped alot of Malignaggi's punches and beat him to the punch and also against Urango. Froch has only done it the once also.