Top 10 Best British Boxers of the 21st Century

So, who are the best British pugilists of this century, a span of 15 years? A lot of very popular names, draws on both sides of the Atlantic, will pop up. First off, anyone with less than 10 fights in the last 15 years will be excluded, so no Lennox and no Naz. So, here we go: 1. Joe Calzaghe The Stats 46(32KOs)-0-0 Two weight world champion, at super-middleweight and light heavyweight Held the WBA "Super" title, the WBO, WBC and IBF titles at super-middleweight Held the Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight title (2008) Notable wins: Mikkel Kessler, Jeff Lacy, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones 2. Carl Froch The Stats 33(24 KOs)-2-0 Held the WBC, IBF and WBA world titles at super-middleweight Beaten 7 former, current or future world title holders Notable wins: Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor, Arthur Abraham, Mikkel Kessler and Lucien Bute 3. Ricky Hatton The Stats 45(32 KOs)-3(3 KOs)-0 Two weight world champion, at light welterweight and welterweight WBA "Super" and IBF world titles at light welterweight Ring Magazine title at light welterweight WBA title at welterweight Notable wins: Kostya Tszyu, Luis Collazo, Jose Luis Castillo and Paulie Mlaignaggi 4. David Haye The Stats 26(24 KOs)-2(1 KOs)-0 Two weight world champion, at cruiserweight and heavyweight WBA "Super", WBC and WBO world titles at cruiserweight Also Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion WBA world heavyweight title Notable wins: Jean Marc Mormeck, Enzo Maccarinelli and Nikolay Valuev 5. Amir Khan The Stats 31(19 KOs)-3(2 KOs)-0 WBA and IBF Light Welterweight titles Beaten 8 current, former or future world title holders Notable wins: Andriy Kotelnik, Marcos Maidana, Paulie Malignaggi and Zab Judah 6. Johnny Nelson The Stats 45(29 KOs)-12(1 KOs)-2 WBO cruiserweight world title holder (13 defences) Most defences of a cruiserweight belt (recently tied by Marco Huck) World title fight record: 13(7 KOs)-1-2 Notable wins: Carl Thompson and Dennis Andries 7. Junior Witter The Stats 43(23 KOs)-8(1 KOs)-2 WBC world title at light welterweight (2 Defences) British, Commonwealth and European light welterweight titles Notable wins: Lovemore Ndou, Andriy Kotelnik and Damarcus Corley 8. Ricky Burns The Stats 39(13 KOs)-5-0 Two weight world champion at super featherweight and lightweight WBO title holder at both weights Commonwealth super featherweight title Notable wins: Rocky Martinez, Michael Katsidis and Kevin Mitchell 9. Clinton Woods The Stats 42(25 KOs)-5(1 KOs)-1 IBF world title at light heavyweight (4 Defences) Commonwealth, British and European titles at light heavyweight Notable wins: Glenn Johnson and Julio Cesar Gonzalez 10. Tyson Fury The Stats 25(18 KOs)-0-0 The World Heavyweight Champion WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO and Ring Magazine Title Holder Notable wins: Derrick Chisora, Christian Hammer and Wladimir Klitschko What would your top 10s look like?

Comments (16)

Astonishing how many people can reply to a thread asking for the best British boxers of the 21st century and demand to know why boxers from the 1990s aren't on it. :nonono: What was wrong with them? :)

10y ago

soul_survivor

Astonishing how many people can reply to a thread asking for the best British boxers of the 21st century and demand to know why boxers from the 1990s aren't on it. :nonono: They don't read much. No Kell Brook? No. Why should he after only beating Porter? His second best opponent is probably Jones lol He has a chance of course, fights with Khan, Bradley, Thurman, and who knows.

10y ago

F_l_i_c_k_e_r

No Kell Brook?

10y ago

soul_survivor

Fury should be higher than Haye. He succeeded in defeating Klitschko and becoming the real HW champ, while Haye failed. Also, replace Nelson and Witter with DeGale and Brook. Not until they've had more extensive careers, although DeGale is doing a lot better than Brook. In terms of Haye, do you think he only fought at heavyweight? He was unified champ at cruiserweight and went on to win a heavyweight title, off the biggest heavyweight ever and defend, all while being grossly undersized. Fury just outsized Wlad, nothing too spectacular, a very good win but not enough to elevate him over someone like Haye who had an extensive career across two divisions. Fury is my FOTY for 2015 but if he had stopped Wlad or actually beat him like he said he would, then yes, there's an argument of him instantly being higher, as he would have proven he was head and shoulders above Wlad.

10y ago

soul_survivor

That's a good list overall. My prediction for the best British boxer of the 22nd Century will be Callum Smith. so you think callum smith will be fighting a hundred years from now? :poke:

10y ago

soul_survivor

I'd have Fury above guys like Woods and Witter. The guy is THE Heavyweight champion, something few British boxers in history have achieved, and did it against a great fighter. Fury has one good win, in fact a very good win. Other than that he has a decent Chisora. That's his career. He can't be higher as of now. A champion must also defend his title or titles, we'll see how the next few years go for him. Haye is higher than Fury? No Naseem or Eubanks Sr? I ain't even British, but comon mang... Maybe read my post? I said any fighter on the list must have had 10 fights at least in this century.

10y ago

LoadedWraps

Haye is higher than Fury? No Naseem or Eubanks Sr? I ain't even British, but comon mang...

10y ago

SouthPawHitman

That's a good list overall. My prediction for the best British boxer of the 22nd Century will be Callum Smith.

10y ago

Hitman_Hodgson

Lennox Lewis?

10y ago

soul_survivor

The correct answer is Joe Calzaghe. Criminally underrated and never given the full acclaim he deserves. Yeah, Joe is number one. I'd put Robin Reid over Burns & Witter. Wins over Vasquez, Wharton, Magee and very strong case for beating both Joe Calzaghe and Sven Ottke. I can see that tbg. Reid was a good fighter but I just felt Burns and Witter did more in their respective divisions and won more big fights than they lost.

10y ago

dan_cov

I'd put Robin Reid over Burns & Witter. Wins over Vasquez, Wharton, Magee and very strong case for beating both Joe Calzaghe and Sven Ottke.

10y ago

soul_survivor

Bumping this

10y ago

LouIE_G

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

10y ago

soul_survivor

Tyson Fury, but no Prince Naseem Hamed? I said the 21st century, with one of the criteria being at least 10 fights in this time span.