BoxRec

Who do you think the all-time greatest British fighters are in each weight division? Here is my list: -

Heavyweight - 1. Lennox Lewis 2. Frank Bruno 3. Joe Bugner 4. Henry Cooper
Cruiserweight - 1. Johnny Nelson 2. Carl Thompson
Light Heavy 1. Bob Fitzsimmons 2. Len Harvey 3. John Conteh
Super Middle 1. Joe Calzaghe 2. Nigel Benn 3. Chris Eubank
Middle 1. Bob Fitzsimmons 2. Nigel Benn 3. Randolph Turpin
Light Middle - 1. Maurice Hope
Welterweight - 1. Ted "Kid" Lewis 2. Lloyd Honeyghan
Light Welter - 1. Ricky Hatton 2. Jack "Kid" Berg
Lightweight - 1. Ken Buchanan 2. Freddie Welsh
Featherweight - 1. Jim Driscoll 2. Naseem Hamed 3. Barry McGuigan
Bantamweight - 1. Owen Moran 2. Wayne McCullogh
Flyweight - 1. Jimmy Wilde 2. Benny Lynch 3. Peter Kane

A few caveats on this list:-
1. Bob Fitz is counted as British as he was born in Cornwall but he could be said to be Australian. He never fought at super middle or cruiserweight as the divisions didnt exist. I didnt rank him at heavyweight as i think hes too small despite his heavyweight title
2. Len Harvey could have been rated in the lower divisions and though never won a world title was one of Britains best ever lb 4 lb fighters.
3. I'd fancy both Ted "Kid" Lewis, Lloyd Honeyghan and maybe Ricky Hatton to beat Maurice Hope but they never fought at light middle

Its hard to compare different eras so I've done a pre/post war list/

Heavy
Farr/Lewis

Lightheavy
Harvey/Conteh

Middle
McAvoy/Benn

Welter
Ted Kid Lewis/Honeygahn

Lightwelter
Berg/Hatton

Light
not sure/Buchannan

Feather
Driscoll/Hamed

Bantam
Moran/Mcullough

Fly
Wilde/not sure

Honorable mention Benny Lynch, Randy Turpin, Chris Eubank.

Fitzsimmons I didn't include him because it raises too many question re his nationality, weight division and the era in which he fought but if he did count I might have him number 1 pound for pound

J-C
lightweight = Eric Boon...

there are sooooo many more...

Alex Lafferty, Elky Clark, Tommy Milligan, Bert Gilroy and that's just Scotland, Jack Casey, Ginger Sadd, Arthur Danahar, Ernie Roderick, Don Cockell and honestly DOZENS more.

Time and period DICTATED - Achievements, Exposer, Title chances (deserved Or NOT) and of course International recognition and reknown!

My lb 4 lb top Brit would be Jimmy Wilde, best flyweight ever. He'd be in many peoples top 10 lb 4 lb ever. Bob Fitz would be in the top 3 or 5 if you count him as a Brit

jimglen wrote:J-C
lightweight = Eric Boon...

there are sooooo many more...

Alex Lafferty, Elky Clark, Tommy Milligan, Bert Gilroy and that's just Scotland, Jack Casey, Ginger Sadd, Arthur Danahar, Ernie Roderick, Don Cockell and honestly DOZENS more.

Time and period DICTATED - Achievements, Exposer, Title chances (deserved Or NOT) and of course International recognition and reknown!

I will bow to you superior knowledge on that one, my knowledge on pre war brits in the lighter weights is not great. I would have strunggled to name another Bantam for inclusion after Moran.

top 10 british heavyweights


1. lennox lewis
2. bob fitzimmons
3. frank bruno
4. tommy farr
5. henry cooper
6. joe bugner
7. don cockell
8. bruce woodcock
9. jack peterson
10. joe erkstine

J-C wrote:Its hard to compare different eras so I've done a pre/post war list/

Heavy
Farr/Lewis

Lightheavy
Harvey/Conteh

Middle
McAvoy/Benn

Welter
Ted Kid Lewis/Honeygahn

Lightwelter
Berg/Hatton

Light
not sure/Buchannan

Feather
Driscoll/Hamed

Bantam
Moran/Mcullough

Fly
Wilde/not sure

Honorable mention Benny Lynch, Randy Turpin, Chris Eubank.

Fitzsimmons I didn't include him because it raises too many question re his nationality, weight division and the era in which he fought but if he did count I might have him number 1 pound for pound

I would put Dave Charnley in at lightweight with Buchanan

Otherwise its a decent list

dr_devious wrote:Who do you think the all-time greatest British fighters are in each weight division? Here is my list: -

Heavyweight - 1. Lennox Lewis 2. Frank Bruno 3. Joe Bugner 4. Henry Cooper
Cruiserweight - 1. Johnny Nelson 2. Carl Thompson
Light Heavy 1. Bob Fitzsimmons 2. Len Harvey 3. John Conteh
Super Middle 1. Joe Calzaghe 2. Nigel Benn 3. Chris Eubank
Middle 1. Bob Fitzsimmons 2. Nigel Benn 3. Randolph Turpin
Light Middle - 1. Maurice Hope
Welterweight - 1. Ted "Kid" Lewis 2. Lloyd Honeyghan
Light Welter - 1. Ricky Hatton 2. Jack "Kid" Berg
Lightweight - 1. Ken Buchanan 2. Freddie Welsh
Featherweight - 1. Jim Driscoll 2. Naseem Hamed 3. Barry McGuigan
Bantamweight - 1. Owen Moran 2. Wayne McCullogh
Flyweight - 1. Jimmy Wilde 2. Benny Lynch 3. Peter Kane

A few caveats on this list:-
1. Bob Fitz is counted as British as he was born in Cornwall but he could be said to be Australian. He never fought at super middle or cruiserweight as the divisions didnt exist. I didnt rank him at heavyweight as i think hes too small despite his heavyweight title
2. Len Harvey could have been rated in the lower divisions and though never won a world title was one of Britains best ever lb 4 lb fighters.
3. I'd fancy both Ted "Kid" Lewis, Lloyd Honeyghan and maybe Ricky Hatton to beat Maurice Hope but they never fought at light middle

McGuigan was not British, he was Irish. Telling an Irishman that he's British is tantamount to telling a Palestinian that he's Israeli. It could get you killed!

Collins2000 wrote:

Nero3000 wrote:

dr_devious wrote:Who do you think the all-time greatest British fighters are in each weight division? Here is my list: -

Heavyweight - 1. Lennox Lewis 2. Frank Bruno 3. Joe Bugner 4. Henry Cooper
Cruiserweight - 1. Johnny Nelson 2. Carl Thompson
Light Heavy 1. Bob Fitzsimmons 2. Len Harvey 3. John Conteh
Super Middle 1. Joe Calzaghe 2. Nigel Benn 3. Chris Eubank
Middle 1. Bob Fitzsimmons 2. Nigel Benn 3. Randolph Turpin
Light Middle - 1. Maurice Hope
Welterweight - 1. Ted "Kid" Lewis 2. Lloyd Honeyghan
Light Welter - 1. Ricky Hatton 2. Jack "Kid" Berg
Lightweight - 1. Ken Buchanan 2. Freddie Welsh
Featherweight - 1. Jim Driscoll 2. Naseem Hamed 3. Barry McGuigan
Bantamweight - 1. Owen Moran 2. Wayne McCullogh
Flyweight - 1. Jimmy Wilde 2. Benny Lynch 3. Peter Kane

A few caveats on this list:-
1. Bob Fitz is counted as British as he was born in Cornwall but he could be said to be Australian. He never fought at super middle or cruiserweight as the divisions didnt exist. I didnt rank him at heavyweight as i think hes too small despite his heavyweight title
2. Len Harvey could have been rated in the lower divisions and though never won a world title was one of Britains best ever lb 4 lb fighters.
3. I'd fancy both Ted "Kid" Lewis, Lloyd Honeyghan and maybe Ricky Hatton to beat Maurice Hope but they never fought at light middle

McGuigan was not British, he was Irish. Telling an Irishman that he's British is tantamount to telling a Palestinian that he's Israeli. It could get you killed!

He didn't mind fighting for the British title...

And lots of Northern Irish folk don't mind being called British. In fact, they rejoice in the fact.

I believe that Clones is in the Irish Republic. Am I mistaken here?

Featherweight.... Jim Driscoll, Howard Winstone, Nel Tarleton

J

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:top 10 british heavyweights


1. lennox lewis
2. bob fitzimmons
3. frank bruno
4. tommy farr
5. henry cooper
6. joe bugner
7. don cockell
8. bruce woodcock
9. jack peterson
10. joe erkstine

Bugner was never a fans favourite but prime Joe is too much for Frank. Bugner went 15 and 12 with Ali, 12 with Frazier and 12 with Lyle. Frank can punch but I think Bugner is smart enough to survive and when Frank gets past round 7 he is very very tired. I think Bugner would stop Frank late.

im pretty sure McGuigan became a british citizen, he would have had to be to fight for the British title

Barry McGuigan was from Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. He also did a lot to bring the two communities in Northern Ireland together during the midst of the troubles. Im not trying to make any political statements by calling him British or Irish by the way