By Adam Godfrey: It is easy to wax lyrical about British Boxing and its place in the world scene. Of the recognized World Championship belts, from Minimumweight to Heavyweight (but not including Interim Champions, Champions in Recess or ‘Regular’ champions where there is already a ‘Superchampion’, of which Britain only has one, Jamie McDonnell, who is WBA ‘Regular’ Bantamweight Champion), thirteen are held by a fighter who hails from England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Americans hold seven; Mexicans hold eleven, Puerto Ricans hold four, another four belong to Filipinos and Cubans hold two. Therefore, of the main Boxing nations, Britain tops the World Championship table by two over second placed Mexico. However, there are myriad factors involved in determining how healthy a nation’s Boxing scene is, with the number of World Champions it boasts being only one of them.
For example, Mexico, while having fewer world champions representing it, currently counts the biggest PPV draw in the World amongst its ranks, in Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Having just one fighter as popular as Canelo could arguably be considered as much of an advantage as having seven or eight lesser-known World Champions if it brings Boxing to the attention of a greater mass of people.
In order to evaluate the state of British Boxing it is important to consider context and not observe the state of play from a purely statistical point of view. In part one of this observation I will consider the position of the biggest names with recognized World titles in British Boxing, what their status may mean to the general public and where their careers could potentially take them. Let’s start with the big boys.
Anthony Joshua – A menacing physical presence with a thus far perfect win and ko record, Anthony Joshua became a World Champion after only 16 pro fights when he beat Charles Martin to collect the IBF crown. However, his professional resume is undeniably thin and his chin almost completely untested (one good shot from Dillian Whyte aside). Despite this, Joshua clearly possesses excellent punching power, in spite of his abundance of weighty muscle. He also moves around the ring with little problem, again despite his vast size. At this point in his career, however, it is justifiable to reserve judgment on his potential. He has not faced anybody who demands lateral foot or head movement or ring cutting ability, and it remains to be seen how Joshua handles a pure Boxer with good skills. While Joshua adds some much needed excitement and danger to the Heavyweight division, he has a long way to go before he can talk about leaving behind any kind of legacy. He has certainly entered the public’s consciousness however and, as long as he continues to fight regularly and increase the level of opposition, will remain the biggest draw in British Boxing for some time.
Tyson Fury – The Boogeyman of the Heavyweight division, Fury is as complex a character as he is a Boxer. Until recently he was mostly known for his beautifully apt name and for punching himself in the face: nowadays Fury is a unified Heavyweight champion who beat all the odds to defeat ‘The Man’ in his own backyard. Forget Klitschko’s age and the quality of the fight, the achievement is nothing to be sniffed at. Fury may never receive the plaudits that others achieving similar would due to his divisive personality, but this willingness to be outspoken can only add interest to a heavyweight division that has long been lacking any kind of drama or characters. Fury also brings a skill-set that sets him apart from the majority of other Heavyweights. Despite his size Fury does not rely on knockout power, but instead boxes with intelligence, throwing from unexpected angles and remaining relatively elusive for a man of his size. Love him or hate him, Fury is the man with the belts, and I suspect he still will be after his July rematch with Klitschko in Manchester. A unification fight in the UK with Anthony Joshua would be colossal, and the two seem destined to meet somewhere down the line. With Fury unlikely to fight much into his thirties, and assuming he keeps hold of his belts, expect a British mega-fight to happen in the next two years.
James DeGale – IBF Super middleweight champion James DeGale is a relative unknown name away from Boxing circles, despite being the first Briton to win an Olympic Gold and a World title (a feat since matched by Anthony Joshua). DeGale’s career seemingly took a step backward when he was narrowly defeated by marginal underdog George Groves in their May 2011 domestic fight. Groves, however, would shortly become a three-time title fight runner up, while DeGale captured the IBF Super middleweight title in defeating much vaunted Andre Dirrell in May 2015, defending it against veteran Lucien Bute in November of the same year. DeGale is an awkward fighter with better than average power and a good Boxing brain. Unfortunately for DeGale there aren’t too many marquee fights for him at Super middleweight. The three title losses on Groves’ resume would diminish British interest in a rematch. Swedish WBC champion Badou Jack would be seen as too high risk with too little potential reward, and a fight against either of the veteran Germans in the division, Arthur Abraham or Felix Sturm, are also unlikely to get the heart fluttering. DeGale’s future might lie in the hands of Kazakhstan’s Middleweight supremo Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin, who would see DeGale as a testing but winnable introduction to the Super middleweight division should he move up. DeGale’s long-term future is up in the air, and unless the division he occupies hots up or a more interesting challenger goes up in weight, he may become the forgotten Champ of British Boxing, destined to rack up title defenses against unheralded opponents.
Billy Joe Saunders – Billy Saunders, like the heavier James DeGale, occupies an uncertain place in the British Boxing scene. Unlike DeGale, however, he won the first fight that brought him to the attention of the general British public despite being an underdog, in a close but deserved victory over the talented Chris Eubank Jr. Saunders accepted a step-aside to allow Andy Lee and Peter Quillin to fight for the WBO Middleweight title, before finally fighting the Irishman in December 2015 for the same title, a fight where he was again considered the underdog before knocking the big punching Lee down twice, eventually out-boxing the Irishman to secure a majority decision. Saunders’ heart has come under scrutiny since he rejected a supposed multi-million pound offer from Gennady Golovkin’s promoters K2, Saunders arguing that there was insufficient money on the table given the risk of taking on the Kazakh. This did not sit well with the majority of Boxing observers, British or otherwise, but there have been encouraging signs recently that Saunders may accept the challenge this summer. He has pulled out of his scheduled April 30th fight with Max Bursak, citing a hand issue. While it would be wrong to speculate too much on the severity (or not) of the injury, there is a suspicion that he may be saving the title for a big payday against the consensus Middleweight Champion. Saunders will insist that the fight takes place in his home country which, as long as there are no legal obstacles, will likely be an acceptable compromise for GGG to make. Saunders will probably lose to the Kazakh, but if he makes a good showing of himself this will be less harmful to his career than milking his title against a succession of less talented, unknown prospects or journeymen. Not fighting GGG this summer will be a blatant duck and Billy Joe Saunders could do without this blot on his reputation. Defy the odds and beat Golovkin, however, and the world will quickly become Saunders’ oyster.
Kell Brook – ‘Special K’ is another British titlist who is perhaps a mostly unknown entity away from these shores. Boxing aficionados will recognize Brook’s power, poise and high fighting IQ, and will be aware of the methodical way he deposed former IBF Welterweight Champion Shawn Porter in 2014. However, either through bad luck or bad promotion, Brook has been unable to land a significant fight since becoming Champion. Routine victories over Jo Jo Dan, Frankie Gavin and Kevin Bizier have done nothing to enhance the Brook brand, and his failure to secure a huge domestic dust up with former Light Welterweight champion Amir Khan also grates, regardless of which camp is to blame for a failure to negotiate. Brook’s stated desire to fight Middleweight Champion Golovkin, a fight that has zero chance of actually happening, could be seen as recognition of the low level of opponents he has thus far faced. It could even be viewed as desperation. Having said that, the options for Brook’s next fight seem to be opening up. Danny Garcia, Errol Spence Jr, Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter have all been mooted as a potential Brook opponent. The fan in me would prefer to see him fight Errol Spence Jr, but I would not be unhappy with any of those match ups. And of course there is Amir Khan, whose presence looms large both over Brook and British Boxing. A fight between these two long-term rivals would be almost as big an event as Fury v Joshua, and quite simply must happen. Khan must worry about his impending fight with Alvarez first, but a potential match-up with Brook will not be affected by either a win or loss for Khan against the Mexican.
Carl Frampton – After beating Scott Quigg to a split decision and winning the WBA title, Belfast’s Frampton was quickly stripped of the title for not expressing intent to fight his mandatory challenger, Guillermo Rigondeaux. He remains IBF champion and will move up in weight to take on WBA Featherweight titleholder Leo Santa Cruz at the end of Summer 2016. Frampton takes great pride in representing Northern Ireland and, win or lose that fight, will retain the fervid support of his countrymen. Frampton clearly has intentions to eventually be recognized as the most important Northern Irish fighter in history, and for this reason alone Frampton will be a fighter to take seriously, regardless of the opponent.
Honorable mentions:
Lee Selby
David Haye
Chris Eubank Jr
Amir Khan
Jamie McDonnell
Terry Flanagan
Anthony Crolla
Liam Smith
Lee Haskins
Luke Campbell
Ashley Theophane…just kidding
There are of course other British World Champions and important fighters who do not currently hold belts, but as it stands the above Champions are, in my opinion, those best positioned to influence the future of British Boxing and expand its appeal to the rest of the world. There are some very big fights in the pipeline that have the potential to garner mass appeal worldwide. As acknowledged there are other indications as to the health of a nation’s Boxing scene than merely the number of Champions it has, but this number is certainly a good indication. Other important factors include the performance of a nation’s fighters at amateur level and the impact Boxing has on a nation’s society and culture. Which leads me to the second part of my look at ‘The State of British Boxing’. I will be interviewing a local Boxing trainer, Mickey Gilliver, from my hometown of Swindon. I’ll ask for his take on the current Boxing culture in Britain and what the future holds for both British Boxers and the scene. As such I welcome the reader to email me any questions that they would like me to put to Mickey. Please send to godfreya@goddardpark.co.uk. Although I will focus on British Boxing, please feel free to send any other questions you have and I’ll pick one or two of the best ones to present to him. Keep them peeled for Part 2.