BoxRec

Given the fair amount of brickbats and general scorn hurled in the direction of the Italian Dragon (sic, no, sick) which Brit fighter of the past 30-odd years would you have most wanted to retire undefeated.

Within reason. Geoff McCreesh doesn't count.

I go for Eubank. Even though his later losses and greater humility were charming, the 'eff you' of finishing unbeaten and still an enigma would've been sublime.

From our current, active fighters:

Ricky Hatton, no doubt about it. I would have loved him to have beaten Mayweather, and Pac-Man next.

'Prince' Naseem - he certainly made himself the villain, and the person you love to hate. (Sadlly some people still hate for dumb reasons). But he certainly was one of the biggest things to happen in British Boxing.

Guys like Benn took BIG risks, so naturally deserve to 46-0

Hamed got his arse handed to him by Barrera and dissapeared from the game, he's not worthy IMO. Hatton took the Mayweather defeat like a true champion and relishes the chance of a rematch.

Lennox deserved to be he beat everyone and would be unbeaten if it wasn't for a couple of cock ups

ALI wrote:Hamed got his arse handed to him by Barrera and dissapeared from the game, he's not worthy IMO. Hatton took the Mayweather defeat like a true champion and relishes the chance of a rematch.

Hatton got his ass handed to him by KO by someone he was mocking the power of pre-fight 'I 'ope ya hit harder than that in the ring Floyd', it seems he did Ricky How Ricky is worthy of being undefeated after not being in the class of Mayweather and avoiding his toughest challengers at 140 is beyond me. Hamed could conceivably beat Barrera at his best, you can't say the same for Hatton against Mayweather

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

ALI wrote:Hamed got his arse handed to him by Barrera and dissapeared from the game, he's not worthy IMO. Hatton took the Mayweather defeat like a true champion and relishes the chance of a rematch.

Hatton got his ass handed to him by KO by someone he was mocking the power of pre-fight 'I 'ope ya hit harder than that in the ring Floyd', it seems he did Ricky How Ricky is worthy of being undefeated after not being in the class of Mayweather and avoiding his toughest challengers at 140 is beyond me. Hamed could conceivably beat Barrera at his best, you can't say the same for Hatton against Mayweather

True.

I can't understand this thread. "Fantasy boxing". I think you are somehow under-estimating how tough it is to stay unbeaten. Lewis, Hamed had the talent but not the dedication, so it is difficult to say either "deserved" to stay unbeaten.

Maybe Hatton would have done better against Mayweather if he had changed his trainer sooner, who knows? Maybe it was his lack of dedication outside of training that stopped him? Some say Hatton would have been a better fighter if he lost to Tszyu, because he would have gone back to boxing rather than trying to bulldoze everyone.

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:Lennox deserved to be he beat everyone and would be unbeaten if it wasn't for a couple of cock ups

Wouldn't call the McCall fight a cock-up, it was the gaping holes in Lennox's defence which allowed it to happen.

observer1 wrote:'Prince' Naseem - he certainly made himself the villain, and the person you love to hate. (Sadlly some people still hate for dumb reasons). But he certainly was one of the biggest things to happen in British Boxing.

Guys like Benn took BIG risks, so naturally deserve to 46-0

what do u mean for dumb reasons.

what like breaking every bone in a guys body for driving like a lunatic.

I don't like to see fighters with "0" in their loss column.

You're not a true champion until you've learnt how to cope with a loss, and a defeat is always the best learning experience especially early on in your career.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:Lennox deserved to be he beat everyone and would be unbeaten if it wasn't for a couple of cock ups

Wouldn't call the McCall fight a cock-up, it was the gaping holes in Lennox's defence which allowed it to happen.

Likewise with the Hasim fight. Lewis may have been playing Mr. Hollywiid, But Hasim had his number that fight as soon as the first bell rang.

hitman_hatton1 wrote:

observer1 wrote:'Prince' Naseem - he certainly made himself the villain, and the person you love to hate. (Sadlly some people still hate for dumb reasons). But he certainly was one of the biggest things to happen in British Boxing.

Guys like Benn took BIG risks, so naturally deserve to 46-0

what do u mean for dumb reasons.

what like breaking every bone in a guys body for driving like a lunatic.

Indeed that was lame.

But before that, there were people hating on Naseem for obtuse reasons, such as not being white. Harsh, but it's reality.

Aaron Pryor...

I've just noticed you said British, so I'll say Lennox.

Pryor ain't British, but a good shout nonetheless. If the coke hadn't got a grip of him he probably would've been.

You were quick - see my second post :)

But yes, I agree about the coke. And I think he'd have beaten Duran. The fight he wanted was Leonard.

That would have been a classic.

observer1 wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:Lennox deserved to be he beat everyone and would be unbeaten if it wasn't for a couple of cock ups

Wouldn't call the McCall fight a cock-up, it was the gaping holes in Lennox's defence which allowed it to happen.

Likewise with the Hasim fight. Lewis may have been playing Mr. Hollywiid, But Hasim had his number that fight as soon as the first bell rang.

He must have only written the number on a napkin then, because it was completely lost a few months later.

Lennox may have survived against McCall if he wasnt stopped by the ref

Captain Hook wrote:You were quick - see my second post :)

But yes, I agree about the coke. And I think he'd have beaten Duran. The fight he wanted was Leonard.

That would have been a classic.

Don't think he beats Duran who had the best combination of defense and aggressive boxing ever imo. Also better punching technique and timing. I don't think Leonard ducked him either, he fought Hearns instead who temporarily ended his career.

A great fighter none the less Pryor and he should of been undefeated against the men he faced

banjo wrote:I don't like to see fighters with "0" in their loss column.

You're not a true champion until you've learnt how to cope with a loss, and a defeat is always the best learning experience especially early on in your career.

It depends why the "0" is there. If, like pre-exile Ali, a boxer's skill is just so far above his comtempories that he is a class apart then I would have to assert that losing the zero to an inferior boxer ala Lewis - Rahman/McCall is not a positive.

Eubank or Naz for me.

On a world level, two that I would have liked to have seen at 46 and 0 were Larry Holmes and Marvin Hagler. Neither were particularly loved or appreciated until after their career or late in their career, respectively. Both got nothing in the way of help on the way up and had to graft hard for everything they got. Both men were outstanding operators, and had that most underrated of boxing attributes: a hard, disciplined mind. Holmes, for instance, would never have entered underdone in the way Lewis did for Rahman. Just wouldn't have happened.

On a British level, I'm not really sure. All the real superstars we have -- or at least on the ones making it stateside -- have big promotional backing, and build a massive following before being launched on the world stage. With that kind of support, the least these guys get is what they deserve; but often the protection as a cash cow gets a record far better than their ability.

Naz certainly didn't deserve it. He disrespected the game and squandered his ability by virtually giving up training. He got his just desserts in the end.

Loftgroov wrote:Eubank or Naz for me.

yeah and me

deadpan wrote:Given the fair amount of brickbats and general scorn hurled in the direction of the Italian Dragon (sic, no, sick) which Brit fighter of the past 30-odd years would you have most wanted to retire undefeated.

Within reason. Geoff McCreesh doesn't count.

I go for Eubank. Even though his later losses and greater humility were charming, the 'eff you' of finishing unbeaten and still an enigma would've been sublime.

Eubank was just like Calzaghe in regards to his reluctance to take on the best. He's just lucky Benn was a fellow Brit who was world class and around at the same time.

It would have been great to see Lewis retire undefeated with Riddick Bowe's name on his professional record.

Frank Bruno or Tony Sibson