...Some Big names of 'British Boxing'

...Another great Era of boxing for us Brits, was the Benn and Eubank rivalry.They were very entertaining characters and great fighters. They could both really punch, Benn had the heart of a lion and Eubank had a chin made of granite. if you haven’t seen these fight be ready for entertainment!

Then along came tough guy Steve Collins, who mixed it with these guys but a bit later on when I think they were both past their peak. However, Steve was a very tough, strong man!

Nigel Benns fight against Gerald Mclellan was awesome, I am hesitant to mention the fight as Gerald Mclellan ended up being stopped in the 11^th and taken to hospital where they found he was brain damaged. It’s unfortunately the risks of the sport and these two guys were heavy hitters, at one point in the fight Benn was hit so hard he fell out of the ring, I remember seeing an interview afterward where he said “at one point I remember opening my eyes from outside the ropes, looking up and thinking, there’s Gerald Mclellan, who’s he fighting tonight?” he obviously quickly came around and got to his feet, that’s heart for you! But credit to Gerald Mclellan, what a talent and a genetic beast!

British boxing shouldn’t go without the mention of the best entertainer and probably our most natural talent of all time, ‘Prince’ Nazeem Hamed. He breezed through getting on for 40 opponents taking world titles with him and at bantamweight taking people off their feet with power, that’s freaky! He was awesome, frustrating style, very unorthodox, and a hell of a puncher!

I did predict however at the time, when he meets a true world class fighter, the likes of Eric Morales or Marco Antonio Barrera he will get found out as his heart really hadn’t been tested because of his natural ability. Sure enough the fight was set, Hamed vs Barrera, the whole of my school friends at the time were saying Naz but I knew what a well rounded professional Barrera was and he would have been watching and learning whereas Naz’s attitude was “ if I catch him once I will knock him out, do think I’m not going to catch him once in 12 rounds?” sure enough a 12 round boxing lesson from Barrera the 1^st loss in Nazeem’s career sent him into retirement after one more poor performance which he did win by the way. Again natural talent sometimes just doesn’t cut it. But Naz was great fighter and a well deserved world champion.

Any boxing fan should take a look at the Barrera vs Morales fight, well they had three but the 1^st was my favourite. To great rivals at their peak, you will see why I picked both against Prince Nazeem.

...Next Week...'The Pound for Pound' Best Boxers on the Planet !