Top 10 British fighters of all time

I agree it was a bad decision to replay it but they still should have been punished. I remember the game well, the 3-0 one. It was a great pity as it would have been fantastic to thrash Celtic in the final instead.

 

Yeah, that Everton team probably would have beat us. But we are are a bigger club, have a fanbase Everton could only dream of, and we have won the European Cup. First British club to do so. We were one of the best teams in Europe over a 5 year period between 67-72.

Everton play in a better league and have more cash. Thats all they have over Celtic.

Jimmy Johnstone. Skillfully up there with Best, Maradonna, etc. Who can forget wee Jinky in the Bernbeau with over 100,000 Spaniards shouting "Ole, ole" everytime he touched the ball. Unplayable winger.

 

Celtic wouldn't have made the final anyway and we'd have demolished them if they did. The only team Celtic had as good as the Everton one of 85 was the 60/early 70s. Johnstone was one of the best British players ever, i agree, still never really produced at international level so he wasn't always 'unplayable'. Oh, and i'm thankful we don't have scores of idiots with no connection to the city supporting us, it's not something I ever 'dream of'. If you read the football threads in the lounge you'd know this.

 

Yeah, because he got booed by the Rangers contingent within the Scotland crowd. Any he produced at European level anyway. Pure skill level, Johnstone, was among the elite greats I mentioned worldwide.

Anyway, I'll leave this chat for the longue.

 

Lets look at this from a different angle.

The ten most historicaly important British fighters (not necisarily greatest) of all time in chronological order are:

Jack Broughton

Daniel Mendoza

Tom Cribb

Dutch Sam

Tom Sayers

Jem Mace

Bob Fitzsimmons

Ted Kid Lewis

Lennox Lewis

Joe Calzaghe

Jem Driscoll dosnt make the cut despite being one of the greatest fighters of all time because he did not get the oportunities to make a historical impact. Ricky Hatton and David Haye can potentialy join this list depending on what they do next.

The two living fighters on this list may be justifiably proud tyo be part of such a long historic tradition.

 

..............That got me too. All we need now is the patented "P4P, IMO" in there and we're all set. :good

 

BOXING PLEASE! NOT FOOTBALLERS RESUME!

 

FITZ
WILDE
DRISCOLL
LYNCH
TED LEWIS
LEWIS
BUCHANAN
WELSH
MORAN
CALZAGHE/CONTEH/TURPIN.
SUBS HARVEY ,MACAVOY,CHARNLEY.

 

Top 10 Queensberry Rules fighters IMO are:

10 Ken Buchanan
9 Ricky Hatton*
8 Benny Lynch
7 Freddie Welsh
6 Lennox Lewis
5 Ted Lewis
4 Jim Driscoll
3 Joe Calzaghe*
2 Bob Fitzsimmons
1 Jimmy Wilde

*On an assumption that an active fighter has just announced his retirement.

Perhaps Randy Turpin should be there, and also Jack Kid Berg

 

On historical importance Dick Turpin should make the cut IMO, he is a lot more important socially than Ted Kid Lewis and Joe Calzaghe.

 

And his horse" Black Bess"

 

Why?

 

I like McGrain's the best, I like all the names just with a few reversed and Calzaghe slightly higher

1. Bob Fitzsimmons - This is absolutely clear.
2. Jimmy Wilde - This is absolutely slightly less clear but clear all the same.
3. Lennox Lewis
4. Ted 'Kid' Lewis
5. Ken Buchanan
6. Randy Turpin
7. Joe Calzaghe
8. Jim Driscoll
9. Freddie Welsh
10. Benny Lynch

I have a preference for Driscoll over Welsh since he was largely outboxing Welsh until Welsh went Zivic on his ass and I don't see much difference in their resumes.

 

First Black fighter to win a British Title, a huge significant event for this country.

It is not like America, I would think we are at least a generation away from having a potential black leader, so that is why steps like that are so important in Britain, particularly as the massive post war Caribbean immigration was happening at the time.

 

Good answer.

I think that in terms of black British boxing history Tom Molineux is the most important character. Whatever predudices he was subject to he got a shot at the title and a rematch when the result wasnt conclusive.

Sombody asked me after the last American election if it could happen in Brittain today.

I said that it could but only given a candidate as charismatic and media savy as Barack Obama.