Best Traveller boxers ?

Billy Joe Saunders is a talent

 

Historically, I always had a bit of a soft spot for Michael Gomez, total nutter and quite limited in the grand scheme of things but always gave tremendous value in every fight that he was ever involved in. Does anyone know what he's up to now, heard that he did some white collar / semi-pro stuff and fought in Malta...

 

For all the gypsy fighters out there and there are a lot none make it to the top level.

 

So, I've only heard this "traveler" term for gypsies from Brits here on ESB.

Is it considered PC (politically correct) over there? :think

Is gypsy a "racist" term like Paky is over there? (neither is really even mildly offensive over here, btw - the latter isn't even used, and if it was it would just be assumed to be a harmless shortening as long as the context was an actual P-stani person and not a Sikh or something).

 

Traveller and gypsy are probably mutually exclusive. A traveller would generally be accepted to be someone with Irish roots whose ancestors went on the road after the potato famine...a gypsy is more likely to be English with Romany blood. By definition a Romany is a traveller but a traveller isn't always a gypsy....if you get what I mean. As far as I'm aware gypsy isn't a racist term, its supposedly derived from the fact that centuries ago people believed that they came from Egypt.

 

I don't think that either 'traveller' or 'gypsy' are racist terms over here in Blighty, we even have a show called 'my big fat gypsy wedding'. google it for laughs. They do have hilarious robotic wedding dresses...

 

I think most boxing communities have travellers in there clubs some good some bad but one thing for sure if the traveller did not attend local clubs in England Scotland Ireland and Wales they would be down something like 50% on attendance . I think at the moment the best rated is Henry Wharton former European champion maybe Fury will surpass him and I also think there a number coming threw Saunders Lee Nevin and in the amateurs Ward is at the moment the top boy . I remember John Francome he was Class not heard much about him lately

 

I think Billy Joe Saunders will be a real talent. Honorable mentions for Tyson Fury and Frankie Gavin though.

 

Lee in the pro's, Nevin in the am',s (Two World bronze-harder to win than in the Olympics.

 

icemax there was a show on recently using dna testing to show travvelers are distinct from other irish 800 years former irish olympian francie barrett was on this show

 

Not every traveller has Irish blood there all nation there SCOTCH ENGLISH WELSH AND IRISH but this is about boxing not about history lessons

 

Good call re Wharton. I think that Johnny Frankham has just got out of clink

 

I didn't know that.....what sort of genetic signature do they have, can you remember?

 

I remember that show. Each traveller tested had extremely rare strains of DNA or however you would put it. Think one man was told his family originated in northern africa but had arrived in Ireland before the people who would be considered the first Irish. If I remember right another originated in Asia and another in italy.

Think some of the travellers believed they were the original Irish and that all the Irish descended from travellers.