Who is the Greatest Fighter out the UK Ever?

[Prince_Pugilist]

So many great names: Wilde, Welsh, Kid Lewis, Lennox Lewis, Fitzsimmons (first man to hold the MW and HW championships of the world), Calzaghe (some may not like this). Eubank can not be forgotten for his role in the SMW division and on his day, one of the greatest fighters of the division, ever.

[Prince_Pugilist]

Hatton, Joe and Naz dont belong on the greatest list

Hatton, no, Joe, yes. Naz a may be, one of the greatest featherweights of all time and after Lewis the second best British boxer of the 90s. How can you not be impressed by his winning of every belt in the division? He was officially recognised as the lineal FW champ, which in this day and age is a rarity. His only loss came to an ATG in Barrera. The downside is he never attempted at a rematch, then again his desire and his hands could no longer keep him going in the most brutal of sports. He still managed to walk away a champion.

[FrankieBruno]

Hatton, no, Joe, yes. Naz a may be, one of the greatest featherweights of all time and after Lewis the second best British boxer of the 90s. How can you not be impressed by his winning of every belt in the division? He was officially recognised as the lineal FW champ, which in this day and age is a rarity. His only loss came to an ATG in Barrera. The downside is he never attempted at a rematch, then again his desire and his hands could no longer keep him going in the most brutal of sports. He still managed to walk away a champion.

Joe gets zero credit from me, he didnt deserve some of the wins, such as the one against Hopkins where he was being scored punches which didnt even land, and pointless slaps. The fact Hopkins was way past his prime, just sums up to me Joe was never in their class and stayed fighting bums in Europe (home advantage and dodgy referees) for 10 years before ditching Warren and stepping up when everyone was over the hill


Naz could have been one of the greatest, he had all the tools, but his love for the sport and hand injuries ended his career and we were robbed of seeing him against other great boxers at the time, many who whom he could have beat.

[Furn]

Peter Buckley.

[D-MiZe]

The same Joe Calzaghe that was advised not to turn professional because of his hand injuries and did virtually no sparring to save them from further damage? Still, without the sparring he still showed a great ability to adapt to whatever his opponent brought.

His win over Hopkins looks even better now after what he did against Pavlik but he does suffer from a lack of good names on his resume. Not to mention Calzaghe was himself 37 when the pair met.

Not a bad record considering his hands were so messed up and that's your main asset in the ring. For that reason alone, Calzaghe deserves a lot of credit.

[#1Assassin]

The same Joe Calzaghe that was advised not to turn professional because of his hand injuries and did virtually no sparring to save them from further damage? Still, without the sparring he still showed a great ability to adapt to whatever his opponent brought.

His win over Hopkins looks even better now after what he did against Pavlik but he does suffer from a lack of good names on his resume. Not to mention Calzaghe was himself 37 when the pair met.

Not a bad record considering his hands were so messed up and that's your main asset in the ring. For that reason alone, Calzaghe deserves a lot of credit.

calzaghe wouldnt have so many hand injurys if he didnt slap with his hooks. i dont see why you would give someone extra credit for never learning how to throw a certain punch correctly and mess up both his hands. whatever handicap he had he brought on himself.

he doesnt have a bad record, but its not on par with l. lewis, kid lewis, fitzsimmons, buchanan, turpin, wilde etc. he doesnt belong in the discussion with them about who is the best greatest british fighter ever.

from an all time perspective he belongs amongst the second rate guys like eubank, naz, froch, conteh, mcguigan etc. all fighters with solid legacies but who arent on the same level as the very best brittain has ever produced.

if this was about composing a list of the 10 or 15 best british fighters you could throw calzaghes name in there. but the man asked which fighters can rival lewis for the #1 spot, anyone who thinks calzaghe does that is a damn fool.

[Weebler I]

Hatton, no, Joe, yes. Naz a may be, one of the greatest featherweights of all time and after Lewis the second best British boxer of the 90s. How can you not be impressed by his winning of every belt in the division? He was officially recognised as the lineal FW champ, which in this day and age is a rarity. His only loss came to an ATG in Barrera. The downside is he never attempted at a rematch, then again his desire and his hands could no longer keep him going in the most brutal of sports. He still managed to walk away a champion.

Judging by his comments on various threads I get the impression Frankie is only really partial to the work of black fighters (most of them American).

[RichCCFC]

Jimmy Wilde

[D-MiZe]

calzaghe wouldnt have so many hand injurys if he didnt slap with his hooks. i dont see why you would give someone extra credit for never learning how to throw a certain punch correctly and mess up both his hands. whatever handicap he had he brought on himself.

he doesnt have a bad record, but its not on par with l. lewis, kid lewis, fitzsimmons, buchanan, turpin, wilde etc. he doesnt belong in the discussion with them about who is the best greatest british fighter ever.

from an all time perspective he belongs amongst the second rate guys like eubank, naz, froch, conteh, mcguigan etc. all fighters with solid legacies but who arent on the same level as the very best brittain has ever produced.

if this was about composing a list of the 10 or 15 best british fighters you could throw calzaghes name in there. but the man asked which fighters can rival lewis for the #1 spot, anyone who thinks calzaghe does that is a damn fool.

You do realise he slapped to protect his hands?

I couldn't care what the topic is called, we're having a discussion about more than just #1 Brit here.

[#1Assassin]

You do realise he slapped to protect his hands?

I couldn't care what the topic is called, we're having a discussion about more than just #1 Brit here.

im not talking about those bull**** flurries he threw that shouldnt even count as punches. im talking about when he threw real punches, pivoting off his feet and turning his hips and shoulders over but not his hands.. slapping.. those shots messed up his hands.

joe often threw power punches without making contact with the target properly, not just those ***gy flurries.

some of his slap attacks were perhaps to protect his hands, but some were just poorly executed punches that made his injurys worse. not that his slap attacks werent poor technique also.