The ten most historicaly important British fighters of all time

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Bob Fitzsimmons 1863-1917

World Middleweight champion 1891-1897

World Heavyweight champion 1897-1899

World Light heavyweight champion 1903-1905

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A case can be made that Bob Fitzsimmons was the greatest pound for pound fighter of all time. He was certainly one of the hardest “pound for pound” hitters of all time. While himself little more than a middleweight he often knocked out men weighing over 200 lbs with a single punch or combination.

Bob Fitzsimmons was the first fighter ever to win titles in three weight classes, middleweight, heavyweight and light-heavyweight. To this day he is the only middleweight ever to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.

By looking at films from late in his career and reading newspaper accounts his style can be pieced together. Fitzsimmons seems to have leaned backward with his hands held low and counterpunched. He threw punches with considerable accuracy and had had an uncanny understanding of human anatomy. He used his footwork to avoid his opponents’ blows and set up punching angles. He often pretended to be tired or hurt to make his opponents careless.




Jimmy Wilde 1892-1969

World Flyweight Champion 1916-1923

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Jimmy Wilde was the first recognised world flyweight champion and the longest reigning. Most historians consider him to be the greatest flyweight of all time.

Wilde went unbeaten in his first 98 and retired with a record of 130-3-1 11 ND's 99 kayo’s. He was one of the hardest “pound for pound” hitters of all time and regularly knocked out bantamweights while himself weighing under 100 lbs.

His style was that of a boxer puncher and his ability to judge distances was uncanny. He fought with his hands by his waist and made his opponents miss by inches by pulling his head back slightly.




Lennox Lewis and Joe Calzaghe

I will not describe these gentlemen since you probably know more about them than I do. I included Lennox Lewis since he was the first British fighter to become the undisputed heavyweight champion since Bob Fitzsimmons in 1898 and dominated that divison for a long time. Mr Calzaghe makes the cut for being the first fighter to unify the supermiddleweight division, his longevity and being a two division lineal champion.