Fitz is the obvious choice if you categorise him as British. It really depends on what your criteria is, and I don't have a problem either way as long as it's applied consistently. Lewis obviously competed for Canada as an amateur, and Honeyghan was born outside the UK, so these things aren't always cut and dried. Wilde is a strong candidate for division ATG in a traditional weight class; no other British fighter has a realistic claim to that. That said, it's very difficult and almost futile to compare fighters from the early gloved era to modern fighters, so I'm not a fan of saying (eg) Fitz was better than Calzaghe without qualifying that statement properly. Lewis is probably the obvious choice for post-war British fighters.
My old man who knows his boxing, has always said to me Conteh was the best Brit he's seen at his best, but because of his lifestyle it was short-lived.
Fair shout, although I wouldn't class Robin Reid and the unfeasibly tough Sakio Bika as crap, I do wish he'd have fought Pavlik though, as I think he'd have beaten him handily
I was thinking that Patel surely deserves a mention, he hasn't been in action for a year now, I hope he's okay.
Hi Noel. I like your list, and in particular the 5th position of Kid Lewis ( have chatted to his son Morton on many occasions ) but sorry to say we part company on Lynch, the stats are not good reading- 14 loses 17 draws, crafty southpaw Jimmy Warnock beat him not once but twice, he was knocked down no less than 5 times by Len Harston, before Bennys cornerman leapt into the ring , earning Lynch a DQ loss, for sure some great wins, Kane, Brown, Montana, sadly Benny was very inconsistent, obvs the drink played a big part in his rapid and sad decline, nonetheless, I don't think his achievements surpass Galzages who would take my 2nd spot, this is not to deride your choice ( far from it ) it's just my opinion matey, enjoy your always interesting posts. chat soon buddy.
Thanks for your comments Mike, you are probably right about Benny but he is a personal favourite of mine so i am somewhat biased.As for Benny`s drinking it certainly played a massive part in his decline
Benn himself said he was a small SMW but at the same time he struggled to make MW by the time he fought Eubank the first time. Strange. He also couldn't pick a winner between himself and Froch "but he'd know he was in a fight". FWIW I think Froch would KO him late but Eubank would beat Froch on points.
Froch had a brilliant career all things considered, quite an amazing one but the best of British can't be someone who was schooled in their prime to such a degree that nobody really considered a rematch being worthwhile.
I'd take Froch against both Eubank and Benn in brilliant fights. Froch v Benn just has the makings of all out fireworks.