British Heavyweights Bringing Back Heavyweight Glory Days

British Heavyweights Bringing Back Heavyweight Glory Days

By Sina Latif

From Bob Fitzsimmons, three-weight world champion and heavyweight champion in 1897, to Lennox Lewis, the only British undisputed world heavyweight champion, in 1999, Britain has produced great heavyweights throughout history, especially in the modern era.

Fitzsimmons was boxing’s first ever three-division world champion and a pound for pound legend. Lewis is one of Britain’s and the world’s greatest ever heavyweights.

However, this era may have the potential to be the greatest one yet in British heavyweight history, with three British heavyweights, amongst the very best of their generation, a unified champion, lineal champion and a fast-improving & serious contender fighting in the same era: Anthony Joshua, the ‘Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury and Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte.

‘AJ’ is the UK’s heavyweight star, the biggest name in global boxing, which is good for the sport because boxing needs a global star in the heavyweight division to regain the popularity of the old days, and he is the No.1 individual box-office draw in the history of British sport, by way of no comparison. In his last four fights, the 29-year-old has fought in sold-out football stadiums in the UK in front of 330,000 spectators and unified the division twice in doing so. In four fights, no other prizefighter in history has come close to attracting so many people to attend their fights.

The IBF, WBA (Super), WBO and IBO champion also won the Gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and has made remarkable progress in a short professional career so far at the tender age of 29.

The Brits’ current record stands at 22-0 with 21 KO’s and has already made six successful world title defences and holds three of the four major belts. Remarkably, Joshua is only just entering his prime.

In only his 19th professional fight, Joshua had an all-time classic battle with heavyweight legend Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 adoring British fans at Wembley Stadium. In what turned out to be Klitschko’s final fight before retirement, the 41-year-old turned up in excellent shape and proved to be a significant challenge. However, Joshua knocked out the Ukrainian legend in the 11th round after showing tremendous heart and resilience to get up off the canvas after being knocked down, in a real ‘passing of the torch’ moment between the old guard and the new guard in a manner which had never been done before.

All boxing fans hope that sooner rather than later, Joshua will face the American WBC champion Deontay Wilder (providing Wilder still has the belt by then) in a unification bout for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. If Joshua was to emerge victorious, and then defend his belts against the best, he would undoubtedly have to go down as a legend, especially considering the pace at which his career has progressed.

Fury is the man who shocked the world and schooled Klitschko in his own backyard and in doing so, became the lineal champion, ‘the man who beat the man’. No doubt that Klitschko was ‘the man’, having been unbeaten for 11 years and looking invincible.

After so many years of the heavyweight belts being held hostage by the Klitschko broth-ers, (by no fault of the brothers as they were so good and the serious lack of quality opposition to challenge them), the excitement was re-injected back into the heavyweight division.

However, that amazing victory wasn’t the only occasion in which Fury brought about the rebirth of the heavyweight division.

After a two-and-a-half year lay-off from boxing whilst Joshua and Wilder engaged in failed negotiations to have an undisputed fight, Fury returned and had an epic fight with Wilder at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, ending in a controversial draw. Many observers believed that Fury had done enough to win the fight and to have completed one of the greatest comebacks in recent memory. Although the Brit had been knocked down twice, he had outclassed Wilder in every other department.

After battling depression alongside substance and alcohol abuse and ballooning up in weight to 27 stone, the 30-year-old got himself in top fighting condition and produced a comeback for the ages with the best performance of his career against the hardest puncher in boxing.

In their thrilling bout, Wilder knocked down Fury in the 12th round with a vicious combination, but Fury remarkably got up off the canvas. When an individual has experienced the personal hardship that Fury has, getting up before the count of 10 proved not to be a problem for the inspiring Brit.

After the fight, Fury told BT Sport: “I just showed the world tonight, everyone suffering with mental health, that you can come back and it can be done. Everybody out there who has the same problems that I’ve been suffering with, I did that for you guys. You know the truth, everybody knows I won that fight, and if I can come back from where I come from, then you can do it too.”

Fury is this generation’s “people’s champion”. He may not have won the fight according to the judges, but ultimately he did win. He did it for those who feel excluded and ‘outsid-ers’ in society. Those with mental health problems, those battling alcohol and drugs ad-diction and the homeless. He gave belief to all of them people that anything can be achieved with self-belief.

Not only did Fury rising from the canvas demonstrate another occasion when he has been knocked down in life but rose up against the odds, it also symbolised the heavy-weight division getting back up off the canvas after so many years in the dark.

In the 90’s, the likes of Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, George Foreman and Riddick Bowe were in an era in which on any given night, anybody could be beaten, the heavyweight crown was constantly under threat and could be anyone’s for the taking at any moment.

In this era, a serious contender like Whyte adds even more attraction and competition to the glamour division. Since his only loss in 2015 to bitter rival Joshua, he has made significant changes in his life and is a completely revitalised boxer and person.

The Brixton heavyweight got a new trainer in Mark Tibbs and started training at Lough-borough University with huge emphasis on the scientific details in training camps.

In 2018, Whyte beat former world champions Lucas Browne and Joseph Parker, and scored a brutal KO of Chisora. He has built himself back up magnificently since his loss to Joshua with nine wins in a row and is the most improved heavyweight around today.

His last two fights against Parker and Chisora were pay-per-view events and he is becoming a pay-per-view fighter in his own right. He put Parker down for the first time in the Kiwi’s career and then showed great heart to survive a final round knockdown himself and take the victory in an exhilarating fight. He then viciously knocked out Chisora in their rematch in another successful pay-per-view event and thrilling fight.

He displayed his improvement in these fights and he cannot be denied a world title shot against Joshua or Wilder for much longer. He is ranked No 1 by the WBO and has been ranked No 1 in the WBC rankings for a while but has still not been given a mandatory shot at Wilder for the green and gold belt.

The reality is that Whyte has developed into a fighter who is dangerous for anybody. He has the meanest left hook in the heavyweight division and ‘The Body Snatcher’ is one of the best body punchers in the sport.

The Brit is a wonderful character for the division to have. He is a true ‘throwback fighter’ who is willing to fight anybody. By his own admission, he is the ‘CAN-man, if you want it, you CAN get it!’. With a Joshua rematch within his sights, he did not have to take the Parker and Chisora fights, which were both risky, high risk-high reward, but risky. He did take them and prevailed.

It’s intriguing to see how far Whyte can go now. He is definitely a real player in the divi-sion.

With the middleweight and welterweight divisions having all the interest and money for the past 12 years, the three talented Brits alongside Wilder can bring back the glory days to the glamour division.

With Joshua, Fury, Whyte and Wilder fighting each other, we would have four men who can all beat each other and the result may be different every time they fight. That is what makes a great era, and is exactly why the 70’s and 90’s are viewed as the greatest days of the heavyweight division, because of the unpredictability factor.

When talking to IFL TV, whilst referring to Joshua, Fury and Wilder, Max Kellerman said: “We have seen all of those men in dire straits in the ring against top heavyweights and fight like hell and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, or at least escape without a loss in a situation where it looked like a loss was inevitable. That makes them special on the inside.”

Since his lone loss to Joshua, the relentlessness and dedication that Whyte has shown to build his career and to weather the storm in the final round against Parker showed that Whyte is special on the inside too. To dismiss Whyte as being a part of that special brack-et of fighters could prove to be a real mistake.

We have three exceptionally talented Brits who are at the forefront of bringing back the most exciting heavyweight division for 25 years, and of course the hard-hitting Wilder who adds that ‘America vs UK rivalry’ element to this era and is a danger to anybody.

We have it all! In years to come, it is very likely that we will all look back with pride at having the privilege to witness these great times in the most glamorous division of them all. Let’s appreciate it whilst it lasts!