Where did all these British elite fighters come from?

[stealthradon]

AJ is from Watford
Bellew is from Liverpool
DeGale is from London
Campbell is from York

I hope this cleared everything up.

[soul_survivor]

I don't agree with the op and his list but it's a great question and most of it hinges on a far superior amateur system than anywhere else in the West.

This all started with the underfunded system in 2004 and Amir khan popularising amateur boxing once again. That led to huge funding increases in the years that followed, leading to success in every. Olympic since.

[MPX309]

.................................................. .................................................. .......Britain

[Tom Cruise]

Team GB has got a lot more funding than they used to. We may not be an elite Am nation, but we are sending a lot more fighters than we used to to the Olympics and to World Championships.

Guys like AJ, Campbell, Saunders and Degale came through the Team GB system.

I wouldnt say we have improved a massive amount from the past. We have quite a few fighters in top 10's or top 15's, but not many are right at the top of the tree. AJ and Degale have legit claims to being no.1 in their division, but I wouldnt class either as 'the champ'. Other than that its mostly solid contenders.

Quite a few prospects on their way through. Be interesting to see if they are the goods or if they are just getting attention due to increased exposure in the UK.

[Tom Cruise]

This all started with the underfunded system in 2004 and Amir khan popularising amateur boxing once again. That led to huge funding increases in the years that followed, leading to success in every. Olympic since.

Worth mentioning Audleys SHW gold as well at Athens 2000.

But yeah Khans success was massive for the scene over here.

[WarHagler]

Where are the elite British boxer at ?, cause I can't find any.

[Tom Cruise]

At one point we had 3 legit champions (ie, not just belt holders) across the weight divisions.

Ricky Hatton at JWW.
David Haye at CW.
Joe Calzaghe at SMW.

We may have a lot of depth now, but how many would be champions like these guys were? Im not sure. AJ for sure is in with a shout. Degale is extremely vulnerable but the winner of SMW WBSS will likely be British, them vs Degale would certainly be for a new lineage.

Burnett? Maybe. Looks talented. Plenty of work to do yet and some good fighters to get past.

Saunders is going to lose to GG or Canelo or Jacobs. Maybe even a Lemieux.

Frampton could be up there again soon. See how he does with new team and new trainer. Doubt he gets to no.1 at FW, I think LSC has his number now. Valdez looks more vulnerable nowadays, but he is big and powerful at the weight.

[Madison Boxing]

The only man to beat a near prime Jones and Hopkins.

it brings them out in a rash on here when his name gets mentioned lacy, hopkins, jones jr = easy work!!!

[yammy25]

i think by now everyone on this board knows im british...

AJ has a shout for #1 HW.. only by beating pulev to progress to and beating the winner of DW and old man ortiz is going to prove that.. as it stands, his detractors will always place him on par or below one or both of them.

Usyk smokes the **** out of bellew.. end of,

Campbell is not the best at 135, he put on a great performance but was fairly beaten, if only narrowly by Linares. Garcia probably smokes the **** out of the pair of them unless linares has the night of his life technically because his jaw is glass.

Degale has always had potential to be number 1 but never shows on a big night.. he's there for 6-8 rounds and then just coasts.. hence his draw with Jack and por showing in the fight he had before.

As for other british fighters being "elite" .. you missed out yafai, who actually seems technically sound and very level headed in his approach to staying and unifying.

Dubois will get shown up sooner or later once his mandatory plumbers have stopped being his opponents but Yarde seems to be on the right path.

BJS is technically quite good.. not elite, b+ level which in his division atm means nothing.

In summary.. there isnt actually an "elite" british boxer by the standards most of use here.. which most of the time is weighing them up against past fighters and analysing their records.

[chrisJS]

Jones was nowhere near prime anymore, don't re-write history, the way the majority of US fans (and race rooters) have re-written the history on the Lacy fight. Calzaghe was the first man to gain a legitimate victory over Hopkins in 14 years, but he was also no longer near his prime. Calzaghe was a great fighter and perhaps the only British fighter that could be considered a modern pound for pound player over a sustained period of time. It's funny how much he's ridiculed and hated for being unbeaten and beating guys they said he couldn't thus spawning mass hypocrisy.

British Boxing has quality and quantity currently, but not the creme de la creme still. But with the legions coming through, the great training/amateurs and the promotional push in that country they could get stronger and stronger just like eastern europe (except they have a domestic scene unlike eastern europe). That would probably force half this board to stop watching boxing entirely once Mayweather's memory fades away.

Bellew isn't near the best cruiser though just thought I'd point that out.