From Ring mag website: 10 greatest British fighters of all time

There has been a lot of the usual hate aimed at Calzaghe and maybe thats fair enough, maybe he shouldnt be that high but he is certainly one of the greatest British fighters of all time and shouldefinately be put ahead of Ken Buchanan!

 

Sorry mate, but with this one comment you have lost any credibility with me, and probably with a large number of other posters :-( Calzaghe isn't fit to lace up Buchanans gloves for him

 

Depending on what I rank for I have Fitz and Lewis switched between numbers 1 and 2 by quite some distance. I don't think Calzaghes record is as bad as some people try to make out but it doesn't compare to Lewis' or to Fitzs feat of winning the middle/ heavy and Lt heavy titles. I also don't rank Jimmy Wilde as highly as a lot of people, he had a great numbers and was often outweighed but didn't win too many titles at world level (this was at a time when travelling to these type of fights was a much bigger deal and less commonplace than it is today). Bucannon also gets a little more credit off a lot of poeple than I think he deserves.

I think i'd have:

1/2 Fitz/ Lewis
3/4 Calzaghe/ Wilde


Next level: (no order)

Honeyghan
Bucannan
Turpin
Conteh
Naz
Driscoll
Hatton

I'm sure I've miss a few of the old timers off though....

 

Yeah you have. You've missed Ted 'Kid' Lewis which is a pretty bad omission. Freddie Welsh too, considering you have Driscoll and its more or less a toss up of whos greater. Benny Lynch.

Jackie 'Kid' Berg. His one win over Kid Chocolate is something special, considering you have resumes like Honeyghan's and Hatton's which are reliant on single wins.

 

Gimme a break, I answered the original question and I've just got in from a Xmas **** up that started at 11:30 am. IMHO both Berg and Kid Lewis get slightly overrated because they fought a largish part of their careers in America (Lewis spent far too much time fighting Jack Britton). Niether Hattons or Honeys career is reliant on single wins, both were genuine, lineal world champions for a number of years, MAYBE you could make that charge against Turpin at world level...

 

lewis is def no 1 all time....who else???

 

Fair enough, and thanks for answering. There are a few possible emissions as has been mentioned - but the bulk of familiar names appear to be there.

I like Buchanan and skill wise I'd put him above Joe, but of cause it's all about opinions.

I have Fitz, Lewis, Wilde, and Ted "Kid" Lewis in my top 4, with Buchanan and Calzaghe fighting it out for fith place. I do need to extend my knowledge about Wilde though...

I've just read that the first ever mouthpiece was used in 1915 in a bout between Ted "Kid" Lewis and Jack Britton. A piece of totally, and utterly pointless trivia for you there.

 

No Bob Fitzsimmons? He may have fought outside of Britain, but he's still British.

 

id benn in there instead of naz,i think he acheived twice as much as naz

 

delete

 

hatton deserved at least an honourable mention.

he's had a better career than the likes of honeyghan and mcguigan.

and had more longevity. :bbb

 

I think Hatton loses points from a lot of people for the endless, meaningless defences of a WBU 'title' - he also stagnated in a shockingly bad way from the Phillips/Tackie wins until he fought Tszyu.

His place will most likely be determined by what he achieves up until his retirement.

I am surprised Herol Graham never got a mention.

 

yeah deffo.

buchanan gets bummed over for fighting stateside in my opinion.

yeah respect to beating laguna away from home (twice).

some american contenders of the day as well.

but he was well beaten by a prime duran and lost another title shot.

calzaghe is much better. :thumbsup

 

Oh the shame of losing to Duran... who went on to beat Ray Leonard at 147... took Hagler to the wire at middle...

 

Better than McGuigan certainly but not Honeyghan's. One of the highest compliments we can give Honeyghan and the fatboy(I say this with genuine affection for Hatton) is that they were and are linear champions fought, beat and lost to the best of their era. I will not judge Hatton yet as he is not done yet. The next few years will determine his ultimate standing. For me at the moment Lloyd ranks higher for destroying Don Curry at his peak. PBF outclassed Ricky and Tyzu was past his best which Hatton himself agrees with.