Best British Fighter Ever......

[LuKahnLi]

I know many of you guys are from across the pond. So I am mainly asking you guys.....who do you feel is the greatest, most accomplished British Fighter in history?

[elveiel]

I know many of you guys are from across the pond. So I am mainly asking you guys.....who do you feel is the greatest, most accomplished British Fighter in history?

Its very hard to say, i probably pick Lewis because he could have beaten any heavyweight that ever lived, i'm not saying he was the best ever Heavy but it would be very hard for anyone to beat him.

[AJ53]

for pure potential i've have to say naz, because altough he was hated for his ego he cleaned out the division in a way no other british fighter has done.
i know he turned out to be a bit of a let down but if he stayed around he'd still be well in the mix with any other fighter in his weight.

[grayfist]

for pure potential i've have to say naz, because altough he was hated for his ego he cleaned out the division in a way no other british fighter has done.
i know he turned out to be a bit of a let down but if he stayed around he'd still be well in the mix with any other fighter in his weight.

"...he cleaned out the division..." can not be anything but a JOKE, of course. Right? I'm rolling on the aisle!!!

[grayfist]

Its very hard to say, i probably pick Lewis because he could have beaten any heavyweight that ever lived, i'm not saying he was the best ever Heavy but it would be very hard for anyone to beat him.

Lewis is a Canadian appropriated by Merry Ole England in Her Majesty's service...

[AJ53]

didn't he beat the wbo, ibf and wbc champions at featherweight when barrera and morales were still at superbantam.
i think he did
where there any other fighters at that time who could claim to rule the division.
no
division cleaned, point proved.

[elveiel]

Lewis is a Canadian appropriated by Merry Ole England in Her Majesty's service...

I suppose Wilson Kipketer is Danish and Kostya Tszyu is Australian!!

Lennox was born in the UK(London) and it doesnt matter who he fought for in the olympics.

[grayfist]

for pure potential i've have to say naz, because altough he was hated for his ego he cleaned out the division in a way no other british fighter has done.
i know he turned out to be a bit of a let down but if he stayed around he'd still be well in the mix with any other fighter in his weight.

My understanding of "clean out" is really clean out.

When Hamed won his first belt (WBO) by wresting it from Steve Robinson (then 21-9-1) in September 1995, the WBA Champ was Eloy Rojas, who had started his reign in 1993. When Hamed took the IBF belt from Tom Johnson in Feb. 1997, Wilfredo Vasquez had by then taken the WBA crown from Rojas. The following year, Vasquez was TKO'd by Hamed (Vasquez kissed the canvass once each in the third and sixth and twice in the 7th). Only the WBO crown was at stake. Vasquez was born on August 2, 1960, which made him just over two months short of his 38th birthday when he met Hamed on May 18,1998.

Freddie Norwood and Antonio Cermeno fought for the WBA crown left vacant. Norwood held the title from April 1998 to Sept of the same year. Norwood departed for other hunting grounds, so Cermeno was made to face Oscar Leon. Cermeno won and ruled from Oct 1998 to Feb 1999 when he relinquished the belt to Norwood in a return match. Norwood ruled WBA feather until May of 2000. Derrick Gainer took the belt from him. Gainer was WBA feather king until 2003.

Except for the ageing Vasquez, I don't see any of those names in Hamed's resume'.Of course the resume' contains the name Barrera. And most of us know the type of entry that is. But there's no Morales who, before Hamed met Barrera, had moved up to featherweight. Very odd.

I wonder then whether, if one does not omit these names, what Hamed did could still be called a clean out. I likewise wonder why these names have to be omitted in any reckoning of what constitutes a clean out. What does it prove?

[grayfist]

I suppose Wilson Kipketer is Danish and Kostya Tszyu is Australian!!

Lennox was born in the UK(London) and it doesnt matter who he fought for in the olympics.

Citizenship matters. Unless, perhaps, one is a SUBJECT. If Lewis is a SUBJECT then I guess it won't matter.

Just a trivial matter that goes along your line of thinking:

Henry Kissinger and Madelein Albright, both born in Germany, are Germans: two foreigners who held the post of U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE! cORRECT?

Tzyu IS Australian. Born in Serov, Russia on Sept.19, 1969, The "THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER" is listed in record books as AUSTRALIAN, including Boxrec.com! And so would records in Canberra show.

The only Danish I care about are ones that come out of the oven: bread and pastries.

Lewis represented Canada in the Olympics; I think it is safe to assume that he carried a Canadian passport.

[grayfist]

I'm not arguing that he's the best fighter, but I do believe that the "Clones Cyclone", Barry McGuigan should be in a very short list of the best ever to come out of England (though he's Irish). McGuigan dethroned the great Eusebio Pedroza, who had racked up 19 consecutive successful defenses of the WBA belt, a record for featherweights that still stands today. Pedroza came the CLOSEST to having cleaned out the division! But he couldn't MAKE THAT CLAIM because he didn't get to unify the two alphabet titles then available; it was the WBA version that he defended all throughout and never got to annex the WBC version.

McGuigan lost his title to Steve Cruz in June 23, 1986 (UD15), in a fight that was hailed by Ring Magazine as FIGHT OF THE YEAR! The Irish is reported as NEVER HAVING KISSED THE CANVASS in any of his fights and retired with only 3 losses (Record:32-3). He left a trail of 28 KO's!

His last fight was a loss--a TKO (ref stopped the bout on CUTS)--to Jim McDonnel.