British Boxing Champions

Britain Has Had Her Fair Share of Popular World Champions Over the Years

Britain has had her fair share of popular world boxing champions. In the1930s Jackie Berg won the Light-Welterweight title; in the 1940s Freddie Mills won the Light-Heavyweight title; in the 1950s and 1960s, Randy Turpin and Terry Downes won Middleweight titles; and in the 1970s John Conteh and John Stracey won the Light-Heavyweight and Welterweight titles respectively. With so many title-awarding bodies in the 1980s and 1990s, the public became unsure about who actually was the champion. Nevertheless, the successes of Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Joe Calzaghe continued to bring extensive media coverage to boxing and sustained a considerable public following. The most popular boxers, however, have not always been the world title holders. Just fighting for the world title in the Heavyweight division can bestow celebrity status, as was shown by Henry Cooper former British boxing champion, who has been knighted by Her Majesty the Queen of England. Henry Cooper is now Sir. Henry Cooper. Henry Cooper, who twice unsuccessfully fought Muhammad Ali in the early 1960s. You could say that Henry Cooper was the best of the British bunch of heavyweights during the 60s, adored by the British Boxing fans, who affectionally nicknamed him "Our Enry," the British boxer who had a devastating left hook.
 

Henry Cooper Was the Darling Sweetheart of British Boxing Fans

Henry Cooper was the British Commonwealth Champion title holder for quite some time his left hook was called the 'Enry's 'Ammer which he used to good effect to floor the young up and coming future world heavyweight champion Cassius Clay. Henry was a good British Champion in the 60s but cuts easily above the eyes. Apart from that Henry Cooper was the darling sweetheart the of British boxing fans and he was quite a gentleman outside of the ring too. In Britain a boxer doesn't have to win world titles to loved by the British. Britain had to wait 100 years to have its first Heavyweight champion since Bob Fitzsimmons lost his title in 1899 Fitzsimmons who first went to Australia as a child with his parents, but later went to the United States to reside. Lennox Lewis became the undisputed champion in 1999, having first gained the W.B.C. title in 1993. Frank Bruno held the W.B.C. World Heavyweight title short while between 1995 and 1996, after beating Oliver McCall a man who had previously beaten Lenox Lewis.

Some Promoters Knew When to Stage a Fight For Their Boxers

Some promoters knew when to stage a fight for their boxers. When Tyson was in his prime Lennox Lewis camp was in fear of Tyson and he was kept away until Tyson began to declined, yet Frank Bruno fought Mike Tyson twice and could have easily beaten Mike Tyson. In their second fight on 21st July 1989 Frank Bruno threw a hard right hand punch that knock Tyson out on his feet, but Bruno did not follow up, instead he turned around to look at his trainer, Terry Lawless, as much as to say: "Boss did you see that one!" "What should I do next?" While Bruno waiting for a signal from Terry Lawless, Mike Tyson nailed him good and proper. In 1995 Frank Bruno and Oliver McCall met for the world heavyweight title in England. Frank Bruno built up a good lead in the early rounds, but after the seventh round Bruno began to slow down just like a robot when it's batteries is just about to run out of juice. A common trait in Bruno's boxing. Oliver McCall began to gain thrust in the latter rounds with poor Frank Bruno hanging on for dear life. Frank Bruno could have been a very good fighter but he did too much weight training in his workouts to build up bulk of muscles which tightens up and slows him down in latter part of a boxing match. Happens in most of Bruno's fights.

Teofilo Stevenson: The Greatest Amateur Heavyweight Boxer. Born a Cuban

On the 19th July 1986 muscle bound Bruno was leading on points against Tim Witherspoon, but being muscle bound his muscles began to tighten from the 8 round onwards Bruno began to get slouchy, lost his earlier zest and was beaten by a TKO in the 11 round. Outside the United Kingdom, of course, boxing has also produced many celebrities on a world-wide basis. Muhammad Ali of Louisville, Kentucky, United States, often recognised and self appointed as The Greatest, is probably the best example. Puerto Rico has three boxers generally considered national heroes out of a cast of over 50 world champions from that country, these being Félix Trinidad, Wilfred Benitez and Wilfredo Gomez. Nicaragua has Alexis Arguello, Mexico, out of over 100 world champions have produced fighters such as the likes of Ruben Olivares, Salvador Sanchez and Julio Cesar Chavez, Argentina Carlos Monzon, Panama Roberto Duran and Eusebio Pedroza, Australia Jeff Fenech, Japan Jiro Watanabe Ghana Azumah Nelson, South Korea Jung Koo Chang and so forth. Cuba has Jose Napoles and the greatest amateur heavyweight boxing legend Teofilo Stevenson ever to be known in the amateur boxing circles. Would have a great heavyweight champion in the professional sphere, had he been allowed to performed in the boxing ring as a professional boxer.

Every Boxer Develops Their Own Style.

It is has often said that several US boxing promoters had approached Stevenson to talk him into becoming professional, but the Cuban government under Fidel Castro would not allow Stevenson to pursue the roll of professional status. These are boxers whose fame transcended the boxing borders and became household names among regular folks throughout out the world. In time, every boxer develops their own style. But  all boxers use the same techniques of offense and defense. In the ring, a boxer adopts a basic stance that helps him move quickly and easily. A right handed boxer keeps his left side toward his opponent and stands with his feet about shoulder apart at width.

British Boxing Champions