Right now, two hugely influential and respected publications are asking the question: who are the finest British boxers in history? British Boxing News first asked the question that is currently causing much debate, while in the US, Ring Magazine also asks the question (limiting the picks from the last 30 years).
Joe Calzaghe
All time great Joe Calzaghe gets manager’s license, signs up two Olympians
Welsh legend and all time great Joe Calzaghe has tried a few things since leaving the ring with a perfect 46-0 record in 2008. “The Pride of Wales” has turned his talented hand to acting, he has written his biography and he has performed pundit duties. But boxing remains in Calzaghe’s blood and he has just successfully applied for his manager’s licence.
Joe will now look to guide up and coming young talent, which will allow him to remain very much involved in the sport. According to a news piece that has appeared in The Sun, Calzaghe, having obtained his license, will guide both Josh Kelly and Joe Cordina, two boxers who fought at the Rio Olympics last summer.
Veteran scribe Colin Hart lists his top-10 greatest living British fighters
Inspired by the recent top-10 greatest living fighters poll by Ring Magazine, veteran British boxing writer Colin Hart has produced his picks for the ten greatest living British fighters (note: ‘living’ fighters, not all-time greats). With some six decades of covering boxing under his belt and the huge amount of knowledge that has been picked up along the way, the 80-something Hart is probably one of the most qualified writers to come up with such a list.
Brähmer vs Cleverly Live US Coverage
FloSports today announced it has agreed to terms with MP & Silva, an international sports marketing agency, for the live media rights in the United States to the WBA Light Heavyweight title fight Oct. 1 between Juergen Braehmer (48-2) and Nathan Cleverly (29-3). The fight in Hamburg, Germany, will begin at 12:45 p.m. ET between Braehmer, the current title holder, and the former champion Cleverly. The event will stream on FloBoxing.tv.
“We are thrilled to cover this marquee matchup with so much at stake,” FloSports co-founder and CEO Martin Floreani said. “FloBoxing is committed to featuring the best boxing content in the world, and title fights like these help us achieve that goal and grow the sport.”
The UK’s 10 Best Boxers of the 21st Century so Far
In the early part of the 1900s, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, claimed an abundance of excellent fighters: Ted “Kid” Lewis, Bob Fitzsimmons, Freddy Welsh, Jim Driscoll and Jimmy Wilde, to name but a few. In this article – 100 years since these men fought – we rank the best boxers to have emerged from these tiny shores, between, 2000-2016. Just 16 full years have passed this century so far, but they’ve been stacked with some fantastic pugilists.
Ten years on: retired great Joe Calzaghe looks back on his “masterpiece” against Jeff Lacy
1,006 punches: that’s how many Welsh dragon Joe Calzaghe threw in a fight that is exactly ten years old today.
Amazingly, when looking back on the display of sheer dominance Calzaghe put on inside The MEN arena in Manchester, he was the underdog entering the fight with unbeaten star in the making Jeff Lacy. Calzaghe, who had a history of injuries and of pulling out of fights, was supposed to be smashed by the Floridian puncher some were calling “the next Mike Tyson.” Instead, British boxing bore witness to one of the finest, most ruthlessly efficient performances in ring history.
Calzaghe and Froch Light Up Twitter
It’s a debate that never seems to get old among the fans. Had 2014 Hall of Fame inductee Joe Calzaghe and Carl Froch ended up fighting back in the day, who would have won?
Most – me included – feel that Joe would have had too much for a solid – yet basic – fighter like Froch.
Too smart, too fast and too busy – he would have run rings around Carl for 12 hard rounds – yet the Nottingham man would have stood a punchers chance.
Joe Calzaghe Talks Mayweather v Pacquiao – “Being Undefeated Can Be A Burden”
Legendary British 168lb wizard Joe Calzaghe has spoken to the BBC ahead of the Vegas super-fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao, predicting a win for Floyd, though calling his undefeated record “a massive burden.” If there is anyone well placed to talk of the burden of protecting an ‘0’ then it’s Calzaghe, who finally retired in 2008 after an unblemished 46-0 record and 11 long years a world champion.
He was involved in many memorable contests throughout his hall-of-fame career, including his destruction of American “Mini Mike Tyson” Jeff Lacy in 2006 and his US victories over living legends Roy Jones Jr and Bernard Hopkins in 2008. Not to mention his MASSIVE showdown with Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler that unified the 168lb titles in front of 50,000 in Cardiff in 2007.
Carl Froch : “I Would Have Beat Calzaghe”
Britain’s best 168lb fighter of the last few years, Carl Froch (34-2,24ko), has been at it again, ahead of a new ITV documentary that he is the focus of.
In a teaser for the soon to be released film, the famous ego of “The Cobra” lands with a bang once more, with both Froch and trainer Rob McCracken re-asserting their long held belief that should the two rivals have ever got in the ring, the undefeated Welshman would have emerged the loser.
The Froch v Calzaghe (46-0,32ko) hypothetical is a much debated topic on social media, particularly in the UK, with the consensus belief being that the hand speed, ring IQ and intense work rate of Calzaghe would have proved to much for Carl to deal with. It’s a belief I am inclined, along with Barry McGuigan, to agree with.
The Greatest Super Middleweight Boxers of All-Time
On the 28th of March, 1984, Murray Sutherland, with a modest record of forty-one wins, eleven losses and one draw, defeated Ernie Singletary for the vacant International Boxing Federation title, becoming the first internationally accepted world champion in the one hundred and sixty-eight pounds, super middleweight division.
A little over thirty years have passed since Scotland’s Sutherland was crowned champion, and in that time dozens of talented pugilists have graced the division. Initially boxing’s elite seemed to merely use it as a pit-stop, on the way to light heavyweight, or as simply an opportunity to capture a title in a different weight class. Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and James Toney didn’t stay long, but by the end of the 1990’s the reigns of Jones, Benn and Eubank had helped it evolve into a respected weight class in its own right.