Rating Britain’s Top Twenty Fighters
Having just finished scrawling an article which previews the year ahead for British boxing (for boxing blog ‘The Queensberry Rules-published tomorrow) I’m due a rest, however the whole exercise got me thinking about that little grey sidebar on the right hand side of your screen entitled, ‘Britain’s Best’.
I added that some time ago in an attempt to be innovative. Let me explain.
The BBC currently ranks the top ten Brits (pound-for-pound if you will) in their boxing section and Mike Rosenthal from ‘RingTV.com’ came up with his own picks a while back, but apart from that there aren’t many lists of this sort around (maybe it’s an American thing?).
The boys at the Beeb are surprisingly high on Kell Brook and have him head scratchingly ranked above more accomplished men (to date) such as Matthew Macklin, Junior Witter and Kevin Mitchell, yet their ten picks overall are pretty good and are on the right lines.
Rosenthal meanwhile, is even higher on Amir Khan, ranking him the absolute top of the pops, above David Haye, Carl Froch and Ricky Hatton (despite Khan ranking below Hatton in the Ring light welter ratings at the time Mike drew up his list). Here’s what he had to say about the quicksilver light welter titlist after the recent Khan-Salita match:
Amir Khan: ‘….. he must get down to some serious challenges. Among the possibilities: Timothy Bradley (if he beats Lamont Peterson), Victor Ortiz (if he beats Antonio Diaz), Ricky Hatton (if he doesn’t fight Juan Manuel Marquez), Juan Diaz (if he beats Paulie Malignaggi), Marcos Maidana, Michael Katsidis or Edwin Valero. It really doesn’t matter which direction he goes. None of these guys will beat him. He’s the real deal.’
Wow, that’s pretty gushing praise and explains Rosenthal’s top spot rating however for me, wins over Kotelnik and Salita don’t quite compare to the recent work of Haye, Froch and Hatton.
So, as my Pops was always so keen on telling me, if you want a job doing right, you’re better off doing it yourself, which is exactly what I set about doing, however I’d now like to take it one step further and make it into a top 20.
This was a tricky task. Having consulted various sets of ratings including those of Boxing News, Boxing Monthly and the IBO and using the old grey stuff between my ears (no comments about cement please), I’ve come up with the following.
Please feel free to take umbrage if you feel I’ve dropped a clanger with it, I’m more than open to suggestions and I’ll make changes if you put across a decent enough case.
Here we are then, Britain’s top 20:
Okay, Nikolay Valuev is no great shakes however Haye’s achievements in recent years have been admirable.
After winning the European cruiserweight title with a one punch finish against Alexander Gurov in 2007, Haye defended against decent opposition including the unbeaten Giacobbe Fragomeni. After blasting out Tomasz Bonin, Haye invaded Paris and wrenched the undisputed cruiserweight championship from Jean Marc Mormeck with a stunning win. After a quick knockout of domestic rival Enzo Maccarinelli, Haye leapt to heavyweight and within two fights, he has a WBA title around his waist, and he did it the hard way once again on away turf.
It wasn’t very long ago that Froch was predominately known for being the guy who hadn’t really fought anyone and seemed obsessed with Joe Calzaghe. How things change. Calzaghe’s gone and in Carl’s last three fights, he’s defeated current WBC light heavy boss Jean Pascal and ranked US fighters in Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell. Froch’s next two fights could propel him to top spot.
Hatton, along with Haye, is the only guy on the list who’s been a true and linear world champion and in the process, managed to get his hands on a Ring championship belt. His future remains uncertain yet a win over top opposition would likely elevate his standing.
Khan had a resurgent ’09 after a pretty terrible ’08. Now a WBA light welter titlist, a fight with Hatton would be huge in the UK.
Witter, like Hatton, is coming off a bad defeat, the man from Bradford losing a vacant WBC title challenge to Devon Alexander in August after retiring with an injured mitt. Despite this ‘The Hitter’ holds notable wins over Demarcus Corley and Andreas Kotelnik and pushed Tim Bradley close when losing his championship.
Mitchell produced the performance of his career last time out to tame Breidis Prescott and stands on the verge of a lightweight title bid.
Macklin is on a roll right now and holds the European middleweight title.
8) Ryan Rhodes (43-4)
Rhodes, the former ‘Spice Boy’ from the Ingle gym in Sheffield produced the best fight of his life to dethrone European 154 lb champ Jamie Moore in October. Rhodes stands on the cusp of an unlikely world title shot.
9) John Murray (28-0)
Murray, Manchester’s next generation pressure fighter is due to make the step up to European level in 2010.
10) Nathan Cleverly (18-0)
Cleverly too is an unbeaten young gun with his eyes on a European title. He’s likely to challenge for one at light heavy in his next bout, which may now take place on home ground.
11) Rendall Munroe (20-1)
I’ve been in a bit of a quandary over Munroe’s placing after analysing his recent good work as European and Commonwealth super bantamweight champ. After a sleepless night, I’m sticking with him at number eleven (just) despite his greater experience at European level compared to the men above him, however there’s really not a heck of a lot in it.
12) Jamie Moore (32-4)
Moore was reportedly on the verge of a WBC title challenge before succumbing to a resurgent Ryan Rhodes in his last outing. Despite the loss, Moore remains a seasoned campaigner who’s mixed at Euro level and holds an impressive win over Macklin and a handy one over Michele Piccirillo.
13) Nicky Cook (29-2)
Cook is a former WBO titlist who, like Hatton, was pancaked in his last bout against Puerto Rican, Roman Martinez. If Cook does not return to the ring pretty soon (he isn’t scheduled to) he’ll depart due to inactivity.
14) Gavin Rees (31-1)
Rees is hard to place. An unlikely former world titlist, he’s only been defeated once against Andreas Kotelnik and holds a win over Soulymane M’Baye. His recent ‘Prizefighter’ victory however, may have earned him a date with WBC 140lb champ, Devon Alexander.
15) Jason Booth (34-5)
Booth, like Rhodes, is in the midst of a late career flourish. A sweet technician, Booth holds wins over Michael Hunter and Ian Napa. Booth’s next bout is against the number four ranked domestic super bantam, Matthew Marsh.
16) Kell Brook (20-0)
Brook is aiming for a world title fight in the very near future.
17) Darren Barker (21-0)
Barker currently holds the Commonwealth middleweight title and is chasing a huge fight with Matthew Macklin.
18) Ian Napa (19-7)
The diminutive Napa is the current British bantam boss and a former European champ. ‘Dapa’ Napa holds wins over his top two rated domestic contenders, Gary Davies and Martin Power and is taking on the guy just below them, English champ Jamie McDonnell next up.
19) Paul McCloskey (20-0)
McCloskey is European champion at light welterweight. Now 30, the man from Northern Ireland will be hoping for big nights ahead, although a recent plea for a fight with Amir Khan is unlikely to come to fruition.
20) Paul Smith (28-1)
Smith took the British super middleweight title last time out from local rival Tony Quigley and faces the number four rated domestic super middle, Tony Dodson, in his next bout.
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