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Golden age of British boxing.....


Ton
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This phrase comes about every so often. I remember not long after I'd really started following the sport around 2007/08 or so there was a spell where the UK had about 7 or 8 recognised world titles. The likes of Calzaghe, Witter, Hatton...or it could have been a few years later with Froch, Brook, Gavin Rees... I am not sure when it was...

 

But it seemed we recently were in the midst of another "Golden" error of British boxing, spearheaded by Matchroom sports and the poster boy Anthony Joshua. We've had some decent talent grace the world stage over the last few years and enjoyed a good number of bumper shows.

 

However we have also seen some of our recent, former champions sent out to the slaughter....Rocky Fielding was destroyed by Alvarez, this weekend Crolla was dismantled by Lomachenko, and next weekend not many give Khan a chance against Crawford.

 

All the latest boxing news is about tv broadcasters or streaming services rather than fights being made. Fury shocked everybody with his performance against Wilder but has subsequently signed a deal which makes him facing Wilder or Joshua not a straight forward task. Joshua's ongoing saga with Wilder has turned people off, and he seems so far away from making one of those career defining fights agianst either Wilder or Fury.

 

Among our other "top" talents:

 

Callum Smith is seemingly cast to the wayside by Eddie as he ties up Dazn deals and remains focused on his biggets cash cow Joshua.

Billy Joe Saunders isn't a very likeable character, may struggle for meaningful fights following his return from a ban

Chris Eubank Jr really polarises fans, still has many question marks over his potential, his dad lingers around like a bad smell, and has a limited audience fighting on ITV Box Office.

Dillian Whyte is in limbo. Deserves his shot at a title but has maybe had Eddie inflate his worth. Demands PPV revenue which may bomb without strong support.

Carl Frampton, Kell Brook, Luke Campbell have all seen better years and on the downturn.

Liam Smith has boosted himself back up somewhat, but could be pushing it to believe he can make any waves at world level.

 

We have some positivity with the likes of Josh Warrington really making a name for himself and Josh Taylor, expected to shake up the light welter scene imminently.

 

There's some decent enough prospects coming through with Buatsi & Yarde at light heavy, Dubois (and maybe Gorman) at heavyweight, Lawrence Okolie maybe provided he doesn't put everyone viewing to sleep....

 

Do people even give a shot about the likes of Khalid Yafai, Jack Catterall, Scott Quigg, Terry Flanagan, Charlie Edwards, Kid Galahad.....??

 

Essentially, it seems these things go round in cycles, and IF there even had been some kind of "Golden" generation of late, I think it's fair to say it has come to an end.

 

There's so much uncertainty about the availability of boxing going forward, with the rise of Dazn and Eddie Hearn very much concentrating on that business model. Any half decent card ends up on Sky Sports. Boxnation seemingly dying a death and BT Sport beginning their own PPV channel. ITV is showing SOME American content on free to air channels, but again and half high profile UK fight they pick up is behind a PPV wall.

 

Anyone have any thoughts, worries, or positive outlook on the current and immediate future of the UK boxing scene?

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Re: Golden age of British boxing.....

 

Not a bad post that Ton, thanks.

 

Its all relative to age I think as to what was the Golden Era. Certainly doesnt involve Froch for me who's only claim to fame is beating St George twice.

 

For me it was the 'Lawless years' when we had 5 concurrent world champions, most of whom were little more than average boxers but that man could instill something magical into them.

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I suppose it is a Golden Era interms of ticket sales. Eddie Hearn has done wonders. Just consider Anthony Joshua selling out the Millennium Stadium, in Cardiff, against the likes of Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker (around 80k) compared to Lennox Lewis vs Frank Bruno, in the 90s, only doing about 30k. By the way, I was there for all these fights. Even Calzaghe vs Kessler, could only do about 40k+ in the 2000's and Joe was local.

 

Eddie Hearn seems to be able to get bums on seats where Frank Maloney and Frank Warren couldn't.

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Re: Golden age of British boxing.....

 

--- The Golden Brit Era will always resonate differently with fans.

 

I always think of Eubank, Watson, Benn, Calzaghe, and Hatton.

 

Today Josh has become his own Golden Era.

 

I suppose it is a Golden Era interms of ticket sales. Eddie Hearn has done wonders. Just consider Anthony Joshua selling out the Millennium Stadium, in Cardiff, against the likes of Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker (around 80k) compared to Lennox Lewis vs Frank Bruno, in the 90s, only doing about 30k. By the way, I was there for all these fights. Even Calzaghe vs Kessler, could only do about 40k+ in the 2000's and Joe was local.

 

Eddie Hearn seems to be able to get bums on seats where Frank Maloney and Frank Warren couldn't.

 

I think Matchroom have managed to pull off with boxing what they did with darts...

 

"Come along for a night out with the lads at the boxing".

 

A Joshua stadium fight became the place to be, post your whereabouts all over your social channels.

 

These shows are now infested with groups of lads, many of which snorted up to the eyeballs and out to seek trouble. But it's money in the bank for Matchroom.

 

How many small hall shows like at York Hall do we see these days? Hardly ever, that's not a cool place to get to lads out to!

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Re: Golden age of British boxing.....

 

We have some positivity with the likes of Josh Warrington really making a name for himself

 

Just gonna update this statement. Warrington has done well the last 12-18 months, but has started to become a proper unlikeable gobshite when he opens his mouth :haha:

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Yeah...apart from Taylor and Warrington and Joshua, you ain't got that many clear winners. I like Callum, I do. But he's too big for his division and I'm not sure how well he would adapt at 175. Maybe he'd do well. Kid really can fight and punch. But it's all uncertain. Whyte is an overachiever, simply put. He's improved slightly but no way is he a serious player. That will be shown the minute he fights one of the 3 best guys. Or even someone like Big Baby. Saunders got skills but who has he yet beat that was a serious force? Put him in there against GGG or Jacobs or Canelo and he fails. Plus, he's a MEGAPRICK and his future is in serious doubt after that prostitute incident. He simply can't behave but unlike Fury, nobody is that eager to see him fight because he simply isn't as good as Fury. Or as entertaining. Fury is...Fury. You never know with him what's gonna happen next. He's an element of uncertainty and instability, to put it the academical way.

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Re: Golden age of British boxing.....

 

This phrase comes about every so often. I remember not long after I'd really started following the sport around 2007/08 or so there was a spell where the UK had about 7 or 8 recognised world titles. The likes of Calzaghe, Witter, Hatton...or it could have been a few years later with Froch, Brook, Gavin Rees... I am not sure when it was...

 

But it seemed we recently were in the midst of another "Golden" error of British boxing, spearheaded by Matchroom sports and the poster boy Anthony Joshua. We've had some decent talent grace the world stage over the last few years and enjoyed a good number of bumper shows.

 

However we have also seen some of our recent, former champions sent out to the slaughter....Rocky Fielding was destroyed by Alvarez, this weekend Crolla was dismantled by Lomachenko, and next weekend not many give Khan a chance against Crawford.

 

All the latest boxing news is about tv broadcasters or streaming services rather than fights being made. Fury shocked everybody with his performance against Wilder but has subsequently signed a deal which makes him facing Wilder or Joshua not a straight forward task. Joshua's ongoing saga with Wilder has turned people off, and he seems so far away from making one of those career defining fights agianst either Wilder or Fury.

 

Among our other "top" talents:

 

Callum Smith is seemingly cast to the wayside by Eddie as he ties up Dazn deals and remains focused on his biggets cash cow Joshua.

Billy Joe Saunders isn't a very likeable character, may struggle for meaningful fights following his return from a ban

Chris Eubank Jr really polarises fans, still has many question marks over his potential, his dad lingers around like a bad smell, and has a limited audience fighting on ITV Box Office.

Dillian Whyte is in limbo. Deserves his shot at a title but has maybe had Eddie inflate his worth. Demands PPV revenue which may bomb without strong support.

Carl Frampton, Kell Brook, Luke Campbell have all seen better years and on the downturn.

Liam Smith has boosted himself back up somewhat, but could be pushing it to believe he can make any waves at world level.

 

We have some positivity with the likes of Josh Warrington really making a name for himself and Josh Taylor, expected to shake up the light welter scene imminently.

 

There's some decent enough prospects coming through with Buatsi & Yarde at light heavy, Dubois (and maybe Gorman) at heavyweight, Lawrence Okolie maybe provided he doesn't put everyone viewing to sleep....

 

Do people even give a shot about the likes of Khalid Yafai, Jack Catterall, Scott Quigg, Terry Flanagan, Charlie Edwards, Kid Galahad.....??

 

Essentially, it seems these things go round in cycles, and IF there even had been some kind of "Golden" generation of late, I think it's fair to say it has come to an end.

 

There's so much uncertainty about the availability of boxing going forward, with the rise of Dazn and Eddie Hearn very much concentrating on that business model. Any half decent card ends up on Sky Sports. Boxnation seemingly dying a death and BT Sport beginning their own PPV channel. ITV is showing SOME American content on free to air channels, but again and half high profile UK fight they pick up is behind a PPV wall.

 

Anyone have any thoughts, worries, or positive outlook on the current and immediate future of the UK boxing scene?

 

When an era ends or is about to end there’s always fighters trying to come through and step up, whether their good enough to make a mark on boxing is the big question - it makes their journey interesting to watch and follow, which excites and disappoints boxing fans. Joshua Warrington is the perfect example when he stepped up and defeated Lee Selby and Carl Frampton. Others fail such as Hughie Fury when he tried to step up against Joseph Parker and Kubrat Pulev.

 

 

The heavyweight scene in UK is buzzing with the arrival of Anthony Joshua, but, I worry for its future when Anthony Joshua, 29, and Tyson Fury, 30, retire as there isn’t many behind them that I can think can step into their shoes. Joshua and Fury will carry the UK scene in the heavyweight division for many years. When the duo retires there is Daniel Dubois who can step up provided the 21-year-old fulfils his potential. Apart from those 3 fighters, I can’t say I’m too optimistic for the UK heavyweight scene going forward. I’m not convinced Whyte, Joyce and Gorman have what it takes to beat the best in the division.

 

We have some good fighters coming through the divisions, but, only time will tell if there good enough.

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Re: Golden age of British boxing.....

 

Heavyweight

 

WBA: Anthony Joshua

WBC: Deontay Wilder

IBF: Anthony Joshua

WBO: Anthony Joshua

 

Cruiserweight

 

WBA: Oleksandr Usyk

WBC: Oleksandr Usyk

IBF: Oleksandr Usyk

WBO: Oleksandr Usyk

Light-Heavyweight

 

WBA: Dmitry Bivol

WBC: Oleksandr Gvozdyk

IBF: Artur Beterbiev

WBO: Sergey Kovalev

 

Super-Middleweight

 

WBA: Callum Smith

WBC: Anthony Dirrell

IBF: Caleb Plant

WBO: Gilberto Ramirez

 

Middleweight

 

WBA: Canelo Alvarez

WBC: Canelo Alvarez

IBF: Daniel Jacobs

WBO: Demetrius Andrade

 

Super-Welterweight

 

WBA: Jarrett Hurd

WBC: Tony Harrison

IBF: Jarrett Hurd

WBO: Jaime Munguia

 

Welterweight

 

WBA: Keith Thurman

WBC: Shawn Porter

IBF: Errol Spence

WBO: Terence Crawford

 

Super-Lightweight

 

WBA: Kiryl Relikh

WBC: Jose Ramirez

IBF: Ivan Baranchyk

WBO: Maurice Hooker

 

Lightweight

 

WBA: Vasyl Lomachenko

WBC: Mikey Garcia

IBF: Richard Commey

WBO: Vasyl Lomachenko

 

Super-Featherweight

 

WBA: Gervonta Davis

WBC: Miguel Berchelt

IBF: Tevin Farmer

WBO: Masayuki Ito

 

Featherweight

 

WBA: Leo Santa Cruz

WBC: Gary Russell Jr

IBF: Josh Warrington

WBO: Oscar Valdez

Super-Bantamweight

 

WBA: Daniel Roman

WBC: Rey Vargas

IBF: TJ Doheny

WBO: Emanuel Navarrete

 

Bantamweight

 

WBA: Nonito Donaire

WBC: Nordine Oubaali

IBF: Emmanuel Rodriguez

WBO: Zolani Tete

 

Super-Flyweight

 

WBA: Kal Yafai

WBC: Srisaket Sor Rungvisai

IBF: Jerwin Ancajas

WBO: Vacant

 

Flyweight

 

WBA: Artem Dalakian

WBC: Charlie Edwards

IBF: Moruti Mthalane

WBO: Kosei Tanaka

 

Light-Flyweight

 

WBA: Hiroto Kyoguchi

WBC: Ken Shiro

IBF: Felix Alvarado

WBO: Angel Acosta

 

Minimumweight

 

WBA: Knockout CP Freshmart

WBC: Wanheng Menayothin

IBF: DeeJay Kriel

WBO: Vic Saludar

 

Copy pasted from another site, so it might not of been updated to todays date. Looking at all those champions it doesn't look good for British boxing.

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--- Regis Prograis top o the charts at 140 won the WBC interim 4 fights ago and the WBC Diamond his last fight and fight Relikh for WBA and WBC Damond soon. Dunno who this Raimerez dude so, but Regis knocks him off easy., but there may be 3 othr WBA champs we overlooked of that sorry org.

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Re: Golden age of British boxing.....

 

We have some good fighters coming through the divisions, but, only time will tell if there good enough.

 

This is what I mean though......IF we have recently been in a "golden" era....and by that I think it means the UK has had either half a dozen world champions at one time, and/or several fighters on the fringe of world title contention, it's hardly been up to much even these last few years, in the perceived golden era!

 

It's possibly more so that Eddie Hearn and Matchroom have given the sport something of a popularity boost with good marketing, a great poster boy in Joshua....people will always pay attention to the heavyweight champion if he is from the UK or the US. They (Matchroom) have made a night at the boxing a place to be, with your mates, plaster it all over your social media, look at me, look where I am.

 

But overall the current quality of the British crop is underwhelming......10 years back when I believe this "golden era" phrase was being touted there were some genuine class....

 

Calzaghe, Hatton, Haye, Froch, Witter Brook and Khan coming through......

 

Actually even that list above, while maybe not conclusive, isn't all that great in hindsight! :haha:

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Re: Golden age of British boxing.....

 

Northern Ireland seems to be a constant source of quality boxers...besides Frampton, you got Ryan Burnett now and Michael Conlan.

 

I dont see the hype with Conlan personally. But for such a small nation they produce above their expectations I suppose.

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Re: Golden age of British boxing.....

 

I dont see the hype with Conlan personally. But for such a small nation they produce above their expectations I suppose.

Yep. Not so long ago they had Martin Lindsay also, very solid fighter. And a few others I'm sure, but right now I can't remember. Jim Rock, but he fought pretty long ago.

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