What has been the best decade in British Boxing and why...?

[NO MAS]

Okay, this should generate a few opinions about which era was best and why...

I really enjoyed the 80's... it was when I first got into watching boxing, my earliest memory is watching Alan Minter v Vito Auntofermo when Minter won the World Title...

There were some fantastic domestic dust ups in the 80's too...

[johna_83]

Being born in 83, i didn't absorb alot of the fights my dad no doubt had me watch in the 80's. More interested in who the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles were gonna own next at that time.

So i would have to say the 90's, as thats when i got into the sport;

The great middleweight rivalary between Eubank-Benn-Watson-Collins etc.
The greatest fight i've ever seen in Benn-McClellan
Lennox becoming undisputed Heavyweight Champ
Bruno finally winning a world title
Prime Naz
Calzaghe bursting onto the scene

[Mandanda]

Growing up in the nineties was pretty special boxing wise here. Itv and Sky had boxing on. We had so many great fighters and more importantly world champions. I still remember the big ppv's on sky...the build up and the ring entrances. I miss those days and wish we could get back to that. I can't comment on 80's or before that but i know the nineties was a great decade for our sport.

[NO MAS]

In the 80's Sportsnight and Midweek Sports Special used to show some great boxing and you always got the ABA's on Sportsnight too...

[kosaros]

Has to be the 90's for me.

[Gaz S]

Pretty much have to agree with thew general opinion of the '90s. That's the decade I spent my most impressionable years in (I was 10 in 1990) so absorbed a lot more.
As already noted, it was the era of Benn/Eubank/Watson/Collins, Lennox Lewis, Naz, Bruno's title win, etc.
We had the Big Fight Live on ITV, Ringside & Big Time Boxing on Sky (quite often two shows a week broadcast on Sky), Sportsnight on the BBC. Better mainstream coverage in the press, etc. Golden decade for British boxing.

[Sai]

Originally Posted by johna_83

Being born in 83, i didn't absorb alot of the fights my dad no doubt had me watch in the 80's. More interested in who the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles were gonna own next at that time.

So i would have to say the 90's, as thats when i got into the sport;

The great middleweight rivalary between Eubank-Benn-Watson-Collins etc.
The greatest fight i've ever seen in Benn-McClellan
Lennox becoming undisputed Heavyweight Champ
Bruno finally winning a world title
Prime Naz
Calzaghe bursting onto the scene

Good job you posted this for me to save me the trouble (although I was a bit more transformers than turtles)

[20a87]

Originally Posted by johna_83

Being born in 83, i didn't absorb alot of the fights my dad no doubt had me watch in the 80's. More interested in who the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles were gonna own next at that time.

So i would have to say the 90's, as thats when i got into the sport;

The great middleweight rivalary between Eubank-Benn-Watson-Collins etc.
The greatest fight i've ever seen in Benn-McClellan
Lennox becoming undisputed Heavyweight Champ
Bruno finally winning a world title
Prime Naz
Calzaghe bursting onto the scene

spot on

[ishy]

How about this:

70's and 80's we had Stracey beating Napoles, Honeyghan beating Curry, Laing beating Duran. Magri, Conteh, Maurice Hope, Watt, Buchanan (beat Laguna twice), Conteh and Minter were all world champions.

Graham, Sibson, Kaylor, Christie, the Finnegan brothers, Bugner etc. were all round.

Granted it's two decades but that's a very strong era.

[GPater11093]

70s on that list because of Buchanan mainly.

But where the fuck is the 60s. Rudkin, McGowan and Clarke all top rated contenders in one division and that was Bantamweight and McGowan was a Flyweight!

[Mookhound]

80s. biased because that's whn I started watching. but the way Honeyghan almost singlehandedly (almost, cos Andries and Bruno deserve some credit) dragged us from nothing to a genuine player on the world scene was very impressive.

Late 90s early 00s is the best vintage - Lewis proves to be one of the greats, Naz one of the great feathers, Calzaghe improving.

[kosaros]

Originally Posted by GPater11093

70s on that list because of Buchanan mainly.

But where the fuck is the 60s. Rudkin, McGowan and Clarke all top rated contenders in one division and that was Bantamweight and McGowan was a Flyweight!

Oh how did I know you would go for the earliest decade

[Beeston Brawler]

I was expecting Greg to say the 20's or 30's

I'd say any of the 70's to 90's - all decades that were pretty strong, and during a time when if you became a world champion you really were somebody, and genuinely amongst the elite within your weight class.

[NO MAS]

Originally Posted by ishy

How about this:

70's and 80's we had Stracey beating Napoles, Honeyghan beating Curry, Laing beating Duran. Magri, Conteh, Maurice Hope, Watt, Buchanan (beat Laguna twice), Conteh and Minter were all world champions.

Graham, Sibson, Kaylor, Christie, the Finnegan brothers, Bugner etc. were all round.

Granted it's two decades but that's a very strong era.

You have hit the nail on the head Ishy... The 80's just get the nod over the 90's for me...

[brown bomber]

The 90's were amazing... when Benn and Eubank don't get a look in on a p4p list you know you've got loads of quality.