England's best ever boxer?

Your entitled to your opinion

 

So you consider Lewis being of Jamaican nationality....?

 

Callum Hatton, lol.

But seriously it's Lewis. People might say he isn't English but he was born in the capital, spent his formative years here, holds a British passport.

Yes he's from Jamaican descent but you don't usually represent the country where you descended from but the country you we're born and raised in. He wasn't born there, didn't live there until much later in his life. I'd say his ethnicity is Jamaican but nationality wise he was British, then British/Canadian and now British/Canadian/Jamaican.

You don't represent your ethnicity in sport but your nationality and he was never a Jamaican national as a pro boxer. There a distinction, between ethnicity and nationality. I'd say Canada has a superior claim to him over Jamaica, as he learned to box there and lived there for his later formative years while holding Canadian nationality.

 

Calzaghe was born in London so is he in with a shout rather than Wales?

 

Disagree, both Ireland and New Zealand were still under British rule during Fitzsimons time of day. The mans birthplace is a national landmark in Cornwall England, he's as English as any English man who has ever lived. Lennox Lewis on the other hand is 100% Jamaican by blood, grew up eating Caribbean food then his family relocated to Canada where he spent his teen and adult years, representing Canada in 2 separate Olympics, only relocating back to the UK because it was more lucrative than staying in Canada. Lewis's own words "When I turned pro, I had to go to the United Kingdom in order to pursue my career. The infrastructure to develop boxers wasn't in Canada then."

 

While Lewis' ethnicity is without a doubt Jamaican, his nationality was and still is British. You represent your nationality in sports not your ethnicity at least not officially. Hence why Africa don't claim boxers like Ali, Louis, Tyson etc who ancestors would have likely been shipped over from Africa as part of the slave trade.

I could see an argument for Lewis being Canada's best boxer ever over Jamaica's. He at least had Canadian citizenship and lived in Canada when he boxed. He never lived in Jamaica while an active boxer, how can you represent a country in a sport when you've never even lived in that country or held that countries nationality. No other sport would allow it.

Eating the food of a nation doesn't make you that nationality. I'm having pasta for lunch would that make me Italian, lol. He was no doubt raised with a lot of Jamaican influences but again ethnicity isn't the same as nationality.

Also nationality isn't something that's mutually exclusive you can be a dual national. Him being ethnically Jamaican or nationally Canadian doesn't exclude him from being British. Which is why Fitzsimmons can still be seen as British, despite only spending the early part of his life in England.

 

He beat all the biggest punchers, and he's chinny? Ask Morrison, Tua, Mercer, Briggs, Vitali etc etc how chinny he is

 

Ben Whittaker.

 

Campbell Hatton

 

I was gonna say Fitzsimmons but I’ve lost a step or two over the years and several of you clever twats beat me to it. Nice to see the old school represented.

 

Unfortunately hes not as widely known as he should be.. amazing career.

 

Jack Broughton & Jem Mace are two that spring to mind

 

Weren't we talking about the best English and not the best British boxer? Either way, it's Lennox Lewis.

 

There's no argument that Lennox Lewis is greater than Bob Fitzsimmons. The latter wouldn't look out of place in an all-time top ten P4P list.