Top 10 British Heavy's Of The Last 25 Years

Not posted for a while (forgot my password!), but with the huge domestic heavyweight showdown fast approaching, I wanted to do a top 10 of British Heavyweights of the past 25 years (basically as far back as I can remember!).
Again my knowledge is limited so feel free to add yours and rip my top 10 to shreds:

1. Lennox Lewis – No explanation needed really, argument could be made he is Britain’s greatest ever fighter.
2. Frank Bruno – Built like a truck and had a ram-rod jab. Gave Lewis all sorts of problems for 7 rounds when they fought and ran out of gas. He could take a great shot, which was his undoing in a lot of his losses, because if he had taken a knee on a few occasions could have ridden out a few storms.
3. David Haye – Think he beats those below him on the list, but not the 2 above.
4. Herbie Hide – Supremely talented, but mental side let him down. Alphabet belt holder in a good era.
5. Henry Akinwande – Had the physical gifts, was 6’7’ 240 pounds but froze in his biggest fight v Lewis
6. Michael Bent – think he’s best remembered for his ‘altercation’ with Herbie Hide. Think he was a WBO belt holder (think he beat Tommy Morrison??). Got him higher on the list than some others as he won a world title.
7. Danny Williams – A complete enigma, looked a world beater one fight and then atrocious the next. His best night was v Tyson when he took a beating but came back to stop a shot/ gassed Tyson.
8. Gary Mason – Another tough Brit who would give most domestic heavies a good scrap. Eye trouble forced him to retire early but was a big fan of Gary.
9. Scott Welch – A nearly man of British heavyweights. Cleared up domestically and on the Euro scene but always failed when mixing with world class fighters. Likened to Mike Tyson as had ferocious speed/ power.
10. Tyson Fury – Limited heavy and we are now scraping the barrel, but he is definitely the best in the UK at the moment. Beaten Chisora before and I expect him to get the job done again.

Have I missed anyone out? Or have I ranked someone completely wrong?
Feel free to discuss and give your top 10’s….it’s all for fun 

Mason would have to be third behind Lewis and Bruno, far more proven Heavyweight than Haye, performed more admirably when he lost.

I personally think haye would have made bruno look silly.

3fingers wrote:I personally think haye would have made bruno look silly.

I agree. Especially when viewed in the context of Haye's stellar heavyweight career.

What more evidence does one need.

Mason would have to be much higher - possibly third or fourth. A fight between him and Bruno would have been very interesting.

Can we claim Funso Banjo as one of our own?

Haye was a chancer. Made millions exploiting the crap heavyweight scene and peoples desperation to see it get better.

catchweight wrote:Haye was a chancer. Made millions exploiting the crap heavyweight scene and peoples desperation to see it get better.

I don't think he has a single victory at HW that Bruno couldn't have matched.

No doubt tino. Haye is all wrong for bruno though.

i know its flawed logic, but i tried to have world champions/ belt holders higher up the list and tried to give fighters with wins over ex-world champs more recognition, so hence the higher rating for Haye.
He does have good wins over Valuev/ Ruiz and the American who tripped over the ropes and who's name i have forgotten!!!

SugarWarrior wrote:i know its flawed logic, but i tried to have world champions/ belt holders higher up the list and tried to give fighters with wins over ex-world champs more recognition, so hence the higher rating for Haye.
He does have good wins over Valuev/ Ruiz and the American who tripped over the ropes and who's name i have forgotten!!!

Monte Barrett.

Monto Barrett tripping over the ropes was up there with Fury uppercutting his own face for the funniest moment in modern boxing. I was pi$$ing myself  

Bruno is all wrong for Haye. Haye cant deal with a jab. He was hopless against Klitschko and Valuev.

Pushing the boundaries saying that Valuev and Ruiz are good wins, both amongst the worst champions of all time.

Haye would have made Bruno look silly just as Lewis did being owned by Bruno's jab before Big Frank got tired...

Difference is Lewis could take a shot....Does Haye take Frank's right hand ??

Doubt it.

Think Mason would have won a world title by today's standards...Beats Akinwande, Williams, Hide etc..

Bentt at 6 not for me.......Caught Morrison after being hurt and backed to the ropes and killed off Hide..

Mason would be higher for me,good boxer Mason, and he had a good dig and a good chin,probably 3rd behind Lewis and Bruno,but Bruno, Mason would have been an interesting matchup.
British top10 not much to rave about after these 3,only Haye moving up and winning a world title perhaps but his becoming a what if fighter.

Think we can all agree that all of the rest of the top 10 would have made easy work of Fury and Chosora. Just goes to show how poor the Heavyweight scene is domestically as well as internationally at the moment. 8 of the top 10 have been more or less retired for over 6 years.

Think only Lewis gets on a international top 10 best heavys of last 25 years, list.

-The undisputed undefeated Horace notice to see off Michael bentt
- Derek sweet d, to outdo Danny in the battle of the D Williams'
- Audley would have Scott welch dancing to his tune, which would be the Lionel Richie Classic, 'My destiny'
- Matt Skelton to wrestle Tyson fury into submission
- Michael sprott to batter the smirk off herbie hide's face

Ok, i admit it, I'm scraping the barrel.

I think Akinwande had a good claim to be higher (despite the Lewis debacle) - although whether he was British or not is another matter (anyone remember him taunting Welch with chants of "USA USA"?!)

Welch, incidentally, doesn't belong here (and would have been second best to both Fury and Chisora).

Mason was unlucky in that he suffered a detached retina when he was potentially in his prime and that there was a certain young British heavy in Lennox Lewis around at the same time. I think he would've beaten Bruno in a close fight (although the two were friends who agreed not to fight each other apparently). He's underrated and I would also put him 4th on this list. Lewis and Bruno are my obvious 1 & 2.

Because Haye chased the money fights I don't think we will ever see how good he could've been at heavyweight, seeing as his only opponents were Bonin, Barrett, Valuev, Ruiz, Harrison, Klitschko and Chisora. But the fact he won a strap (in Germany remember) and defended it more than once does make him worthy of 3rd on my list.

Hide I think gets a bit of a bad press: he was always a small heavy and would struggle against the bigger guys (Bowe & Vitali spring to mind) but he hit like a mule, and had serious speed. During his prime at heavy he could bang and tended to put most opponents to sleep. He goes in at my number 5.

6 is Henry Akinwande. He was unusual for a heavyweight in that he was built like a pro basketball player and had a ridiculously long reach (86 inches!) which made him an awkward night's work for anyone. Should have won the first fight against Schulz (robbed in Germany??) but won the WBO title, which he defended a few times before vacating to fight Lennox for the WBC. We all know what happened there... Probably could've done better than he actually achieved.

My 7? Danny Williams. I don't really count anything he's done post-Vitali, but he's done relatively well when his training partner wasn't Mr Kipling. Yes, he beat Tyson, but he's been a British champion 3 or 4 times, won the commonwealth title and managed to burst the gunshy Audley's unbeaten bubble. Granted he has had slip-ups, being out-thought and out-fought by Julius Francis of all people, being dismantled by Sinan Samil Sam and his win/loss borefests/fights with Skelton and Sprott, but he has my respect for never giving up, showing unbelievable courage against Mark Potter and Vitali. Sadly he's still not given up and is now cannon fodder for anyone who wants an opponent.

8. Michael Bentt. Is he a Brit? Is he an American? Who cares really. Born in Britain, raised in the USA so no worse than Lennox I guess... He only had one fight that grabbed our attention and that was his amazing destruction of Tommy Morrison. He'd been lined up as "an opponent" and destroyed Morrison in less that two minutes. Saw his chance, took it. That said he was a 4 time Golden Gloves winner, so no small achievement. Advised to retire after a brain injury following his loss to Herbie Hide and is now an actor.

9. I am going to get flamed for this, but my number 9 is Audley. Yes he falls over at the first sniff of a punch , but he is a former Olympic champion, and whilst he didn't achieve his "destiny" of becoming a World champ, he was European champ, won Prozefighter twice and did "fight" for a strap. Yes he was over-hyped, and came a cropper, but he has still achieved far more than we ever will.

10. Matt Skelton. Not many people will agree here, but Skelton for me was a bit of an over achiever. He was a late starter in boxing and a former kickboxing world champ. He won the British, European and Commonwealth titles and fought for the WBA strap, losing only on points. Yes, he's been defeated a fair bit since his peak, but so have many fighters who go on too long.

Today's fighters have not achieved as much in my book. Fury has an unbeaten record of nobody important and a big mouth. he's also been decked by nobodies. Until he has fought anyone of note he does not belong on this list. Chisora has lost every time he's stepped up to decent level yet he's still being highly rated. Yes he's won the British and EBU titles but he's not quite good enough to make this list. And Scott Welch does not belong anywhere near this list. His "no-show" against Akinwande didn't exactly showcase his talents...

"Audley.... Didn't achieve his destiny"  .......... I think you mean hasn't achieved it "Yet"

"He has still achieved more than we ever will"........

WTF does that mean...........Peter Buckley has achieved more than I ever will in a ring...

Fury is above Audley already.........Chisora for me is above him as well...........

Poor choice of words from me Truss - change we to "most British heavies". Sad state of affairs. Fury though, is rubbish. As is Chisora - who you can't stand Truss.

All I know is

Lennox Lewis
Frank Bruno
David Haye

yes I have heard about these Willams and furys but haven't taken any interest in watching them live or video replay.