British Elite Fighters

After listening to Talksport about how the England team cannot produce Elite players it got me wondering about British fighters having the same problems, yes we can get World champions but fighters who can truly compete at Elite level only come once in a Generation!! Here are some fighters that i have grown up watching and where i rate them:

Elite:

Lennox Lewis was probably the only Elite fighter I really remember from these shores (Although he boxed for Canada as an Amateur) He could mix it with and beat the best fighters in the world when he was boxing.

Just under Elite:

Chris Eubank, Joe Calzaghe, Nigel Benn, Carl Froch, Prince Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton, David Haye, Amir Khan.

These were all very good World champions but imo the were just under elite level and could beat almost anybody on their day except the true Elite level fighters.

Joe Calzaghe and Carl Froch are the 2 from this list that I think were closest to reaching elite level, if Joe had beaten Roy Jones 5-6 years earlier he might have sneaked in and Carl has beaten most of the top fighters in his division but would have needed to beat Ward to get in imo.

Solid World Champions:

Scott Harrison, Junior Witter, Paul Ingle, Johnny Nelson, Glen Cattley, Steve Robinson, Ricky Burns, Wayne McCulloch, Carl Thompson, Robin Reid, Richie Woodhall, Clinton Woods, Enzo Macaranelli, Frank Bruno

These guys all had decent runs as World champions but could be handily beaten by fighters that were maybe not classed as elite, there might be a couple here that people might think should be at the just under elite level but this is just my opinion.

World Champions

Gavin Rees, Alex Arthur, Nicky Cook, Herbie Hide, Stuart Hall, Jamie McDonnell, Paul Butler

These were boxers who won titles but haven't boxed or imo would never have troubled the fighter vying for elite level.


These are just the ones that I can remember from my era and ones that I have seen boxing and I have put them in an order that is my opinion but why haven't the Brits had more elite level fighter?

is it down to our population size, our coaches and training methods or maybe the fact that there is less poverty here so our fighters are not as hungry to be the best as fighters from other countries?

I'd like to hear thoughts on the reasons we don't have more elite fighters and see what other fighters posters on here class as Elite or just fighters I have missed out of the lists.

 

I only say they aren't elite because they never beat the best fighters at teh time, like I said Calzaghe was close but for me him not fighting Roy Jones earlier in his career when Roy was at his best stopped me from putting him in.

Naseem Hamed never beat an Elite fighter either, when he stepped up against barrera he got beat and never tried to prove he was elite after his defeat by rematching barrera or fighting Erik Morales

 

My dad speaks about Honeygan, but as i haven't actually watched much of his fights or others that were before my time, I don't like making judgements on them.

Would be good to hear from others about elite fighters they have seen from before then, it wasn't until the 90's that I really properly watched boxing!