What happened to the British school?

"Where have all those skillful Brits gone?"


They got tired of getting knocked out by Americans.

 

The same Americans who now take the easy option and try their hand at throwing a ball in a bin 10 foot up in the air!

USA and the United Kingdom have the same problem, the sport is not as popular as it once was in either country, and as such the Americans who could of made it, decided to go the American Football or Basketball route, whilst we lose a hell of a lot of potential boxers to Football.

If you make it in all of them three sports you make yourself a fortune and if you lose in Basketball, American Football or Football there is always next week...

Our standards of living are such, we do not need to be as tough as we used to.

 

Maybe Degale and Gavin will change that. Boxing just isn't the sport it used to be over here. Regular tv doesn't screen it.....kids wanna be footballers nowadays.

 

The general level of old school training knowledge has deteriorated too. Fellows like Brian Lawrence are doing their best to keep it going but the mainstream undermines it. Blood like Anthony Farnell and Joe Gallagher might do something to change things hopefully......

It speaks volumes when you've got Barry McGuigan claiming Hatton to be an ATG British fighter of the highest calibre and Oscar De La Hoya a surefire top 10 welterweight of all time. And he's meant to be a top level analyst.

 

C'mon Klompton that's an egregious post.Rooster worthy even.


I agree with Rock here, the technical quality of British fighters has gone way down since the nineties.I just don't think there is the same level of trainers in the country anymore.Even looking at someone like Sibbo, who was seen as more of a puncher and aggressive left-hooker, than a stylist...compared to someone like Hatton he fights like Napoles or Canizales.

I'd include Eubank as one of the last of the older-school stylists though.He had that '70s Panamanian stylist thing going on a lot of the time.He was invconsistent, but had the technical skills.

 

yh ive actually been impressed by gavin alot

 

McGuigan thought Akinwande could prove to be one of the greatest heavyweights ever. He knows jack ****.

Rob McCracken is a very good trainer too. I think it's more to do with the fact that there isn't any talent coming through, and when there is they're in the wrong place or don't stumble across the right trainer.

 

Knowledge dies with the trainers allot of the time, that and boxers trying to be more unorthodox these days

 

To an extent McGuigan tows what his bosses ask him to say, if they say build up Akiwande he will. Barry does spout some crap but still 1 of the most likable men in the sport

 

I thought it was kind of funny. For years and years the British themselves would lament the fact that they would get behind a pretty, stylish fighter only to have him knocked out everytime he stepped up at the world level. Now its the Brits who are fighting in a more American, professional style and Americans are the ones suffering for it.

 

I think the British fighters of most previous decades were generally better right across the board than this past era and mostly had far more adaptable and pro orientated styles.


You could be right as far as comparing how the likes of Froch and Hatton fight to emerging american talent like the inept Dirrell though.

 

i think it starts in the ams now

when you first start the stylists are at a distinct disadvantage. An aggresive brawler beats a stylist early in the amatuers. Cuase the stylists dont have the technical skills yet to deal with aggresive brawlers who dont have to be as skilled.

So these boxers say '**** it' i train hard learn the sport but someone not in my class beats me because there big and strong. so they think whats the point and do something else.

In britain were training guys to win but not to box beautifully in doing it. and the skillful guys suffer.

 

Bit of a bad example old Chris, Eubank was trained in the American system and when he came back to Britain he said British trainers and boxers weren't up to much and has less skill, didnt go down too well

 

Lewis learned his trade in Canada.