Here is mine 1 Calzaghe one of our best ever boxers so has to be number one 2 Eubank two weight world champion and really got the country booming for boxing 3, Benn also 2 weight champion put him just below Eubank but only just 4, Froch, fought the best in the world and could be higher on the list when his career is finished 5, ried was a beast when he was younger and got robbed in Germany 6, woodhall, Olympic bronze medal and had a pretty decent career. Thoughts?
1: Joe Calzaghe 2: Nigel Benn 3: Carl Froch 4: Chris Eubank 5: Glenn Catley 6: Robin Reid 7: Richie Woodhall 8: Herol Graham 9: Michael Watson 10: James Cook Mentions: Sam Storey, Mark Kaylor, Slugger O'Toole, Henry Wharton, Ray Close, David Starie, Dean Francis and Brian Magee
I have Froch at number 1 purely because a record of 6-2 in his last 8 fights against that level of opposition has never been done by a British fighter before.
Agree with TBooze list for the most part although I would put Reid above Catley. Just putting it out there how good was Dean Francis and why didnt he reach the heights ?
Injuries cost Francis, he looked like he was on the verge of a breakthrough in the late 90s, and then he buggered up his shoulder and despite coming back in the 21st Century, he never threatened to make the jump to 'world class' again.
Watson is an interesting case. He got a spot in my top 10 and only had one 'offical' fight at 168, which he lost.
I'd favour him by knockout over all of those apart from Eubank and Calzaghe. Considering he thrashed Eubank for 10.9 rounds.... and he holds lots of advantages over Calzaghe too. There's not many you'd favour over him at 168 on that kinda form. Whether he'd have repeated it or not is another story, but you can speculate.
He was very good, most certainly would have won a title in my opinion, he didnt reach those heights because of a serious shoulder injury which practically turned him into a one armed fighter.
1. Calzaghe 2. Eubank 3. Benn 4. Froch 5. Francis 6. Reid 7. Woodhall 8. Wharton 9. Catley 10. Magee Not rating Watson and graham who were middleweights to me