The Rise of the British Boxing Empire
By Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña
Twelve, count them, twelve current British World Champions. Billy Joe Saunders and Tyson Fury are the two latest boxers to be added to the list of Britain’s boxing world champions, a list that includes Kell Brook, James DeGale, Lee Selby, Scott Quigg, Carl Frampton, Jamie McDonnell, Liam Smith, Terry Flanagan, Lee Haskins, and Anthony Crolla. A list that may soon include former champions Amir Khan, and Ricky Burns, as both fighters are seeking world title shots again. As well as Liverpool’s undefeated Callum Smith. Smith who recently defeated Rocky Fielding by devastating first round knockout is also moving up the ladder. Smith dropped Fielding three times in the first round to retain his WBC Silver Super Middleweight Championship and win the vacant BBB of C British Super Middleweight title by first round TKO. Callum has shown world class potential is on his way to the top of the rankings and to a world title shot. With these fighters, as well as a host of young British prospects led by undefeated Heavyweight Anthony Joshua, 15-0, 15 KO’s and Middleweight Chris Eubank, JR., 21-1, 16 KO’s. Great Britain has arisen from dark ages to becoming a definite force in the sport.
So to find out what brought about this explosion in British boxing I went to the UK fans to get their take on the rise of British boxing. First I spoke to George Gill of Lincoln, Lincolnshire. George who is an avid boxing fan has always enjoyed watching fighters such as Nigel Benn, Naseem Hamed and Lennox Lewis, Gill accredits “David Haye” a British professional boxer and two-time former world champion. Widely recognized as one of the best boxers of his generation, he is the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amateur Boxing Championships, where he won a Silver Medal in 2001. As a professional he became the first British boxer to become a unified cruiserweight world champion in 2008, winning three out of the four major world titles, as well as The Ring Magazine title.
George also believes the 2012 Olympic team was a “springboard in success” “it got a lot of people interested in the sport again”. First off, London held the games and with Luke Campbell and Anthony Joshua bringing home gold for GB, the British sports world had focused its eyes on boxing. He also states that “Eddie Hearn began showcasing prospects and selling out arenas at affordable prices”. “Boxing is booming and the fans are right behind it”. When speaking to another fan Rob Palmer he gave me the same answer “In terms of promotions, big time boxing has always attracted big time crowds. It has become more frequent in recent years because Eddie Hearn has taken over Matchroom Promotions from his father and boxing hall of famer Barry Hearn. Eddie has combined his background in marketing with his father’s experience and knowledge of the sport. He is very good at marketing events to the general fan, fans who do not normally watch boxing, but who are soccer and rugby fans.
In my conversation with Rob he also pointed out one other big name, Audley “A-Force” Harrison. Audley Harrison is a MBE, The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire the “order of chivalry of British constitutional monarchy”, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations and public service outside the Civil Service. Audley is also a former British professional boxer. As an amateur he won a gold medal in the super heavyweight division at the 2000 Olympic Games, becoming the first ever British boxer to win Olympic gold in that division. Audley winning the gold in 2000 for many gave Great Britain the rebirth in the sport it so badly needed. Boxing was very much a Cinderella sport back in the 1990’s with limited funding and Harrison’s success at the Sydney Games won more money for the British amateur game. He blazed a trail which Amir Khan, DeGale, Anthony Joshua, Luke Campbell, Nicola Adams and Anthony Ogogo have all followed at successive Olympics. British boxing is enjoying a ‘golden age’. There are more British world champions than at any point in history, more television channels are showing boxing, more fans are attending fights and more boxers are joining the professional ranks. As a boxing writer I only see a bigger and brighter future for the Great Britain in 2016.
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