Your favourite and least favourite British boxer of the 90's and why??

Easy!!

Benn (Loved) and Eubank (Hated).

 

Agreed with Bruno and for the exact same reasons but I just hated Eubank with a passion in those days...even more than Bruno!

 

word. I was going to say..

 

Favorite - Benn. Not that I was even a Benn fan, but I didnt dislike him.

Least fav - 3 way tie between Lummox, Princess, and Thimply the Bethst

 

Eubank was just an aloof son of a bitch!! He was arrogant but without smiles or tongue in cheek. He was just a cunt. He was very disrespectful of Nigel Benn for example. Perhaps he was compensating for his extreme ugliness (there was once a fight promotion which had a panther turning into Eubank, showing how fierce Chris was, and the sad thing is...there was virtually no difference between his face and the panthers!!)

 

Benn and Eubank would have fucked Froch up. No doubt about that at all IMO. So would have Watson for that matter. The current crop of 168lb-ers aren't a patch on the era of Toney, Jones, Benn, Eubanks, Nunn and Watson.

I'm not sure how those would have done against Calzaghe. Benn would have likely lost, Eubanks would have been tougher for Joe but for some reason I always felt Watson would have been the best bet to beat Calzaghe.

MTF

 

Oh dear...

MTF :scratcher:

 

I think Calzaghe would have beaten any version of Eubank and he would have treated Benn the way he treated Lacy.

Editted to add: Calzaghe would have beaten Watson easily.

 

It's true that neither Benn or Eubank wanted any of Roy Jones (actually Benn was prepared to fight him, but Benn's Dad advised him against it)..but Collins wanted to fight Jones.

 

What an insult!

Panthers are beautiful creatures.

 

Benn is a LOT better than Lacy, though I kind of agree to an extent and the style comparison is fairly valid, which I why I think Joe is a pretty bad matchup for Nigel. Eubanks is a different one though; I'm not sure how instructive the actual fight between them was because Eubanks was so far past his best (albeit still better than most of the shite Calzaghe actually fought). I do think that Joe would have won, though, but it would have been ugly as hell- Joe is really a counter puncher and so was Eubanks, resulting in a chess match type of affair.

I can't really explain why I think Watson has the better chance: perhaps it is simply because he was IMO the best of the three overall (he was flat out robbed in the first Eubanks fight and miles ahead in the second when he got caught and the rope intervened).

MTF

 

There is a noticeable size difference between Calzaghe and Benn, and at 175, my God, Joe would beat him to death. Its worth pointing out that Collins wanted none of Calzaghe but was happy to face Eubank and {a faded} Benn. Guys like Nicky Piper took Benn 11 rounds but were blown out by guys like Dariusz who fought only 7lbs higher. Benn was a natural 160lbr and at 168 he was maxed out. He never seemed to be in an easy fight at 168, ever.

 

Agreed. Benn was one of those middle's who just weren't quite the same at 168. His power for one seemed noticeably lesser. That said, I was never convinced by Joe's foray into 175. He seemed a lot more comfortable at 168.

MTF

 

Collins didn't truly want the fight...I recall him calling out Roy at 168 years after Roy had moved to 175.

Secondly, (and I've told this story before) even Freddie Roach knew Collins couldn't beat Roy. The week before Jones fought Ruiz I had a convo with him and he picked Ruiz simply because he thought Roy was a "ducker." I asked him mwho Roy ducked and he mentioned James Toney for one...mind you...Toney was with Roach at the time.

To put this into perspective, Toney hadn't beaten Jirov or Holyfield yet.

Lastly, he mentioned Steve Collins. I asked if he REALLY thought Collins had a chance to beat Jones he said, "it would have been nice to see him try." That was said with a heavy tone of resignation in his voice.

Collins wanted him as bad as Calzaghe did the night he called out Roy on the undercard of Tyson vs Neilsen.

 

Collins spent years calling out Jones. He retired when it became obvious that Jones wouldn't bother himself with him. There is no dispute about this so far as I can see. Equally, though, there is no doubt that Collins wanted to fight him for the money and had little chance (actually, make that almost no chance) of actually winning that fight. I suspect Collins knew this himself and what you say here sounds about true. But this doesn't detract from the fact that Collins wanted a Jones fight really badly and shouted for one for years.

MTF

 

I would pick Froch over Benn, Eubank would be 50/50. Watson might be a slight favourite. Calzaghe beats all of them.

With the exception of possibly (at a stretch) Watson, DeGale looks better at this stage of his career than any of the British 90's super middles.

 

Benn and Froch would have been a war and I'm not sure Froch hits hard enough or is sturdy enough to deal with the incoming. All this stuff about Froch's 'amazing chin' doesn't quite wash with me: Taylor hurt him pretty badly early doors and Pascal had him wobbling about at one stage, so I'd reckon Benn would put plenty of dents in Froch's chin. Also, at world level I don't think Froch has especially good power, and the guys who beat Benn (Watson, Eubanks) both hit hard.

Watson was all wrong IMO for Froch; he's essentially a much more proficient, harder hitting, more technically sound version of the only guy to have beaten Froch.

I dunno- Froch is a tough mother to rank and rate. He looks like he should get hammered in most of his fights yet he keeps winning 'em: that's one of the reasons why he is so underrated I suppose. It's possible that he proves me wrong (wouldn't be the first time) and gets the job done.

How does DeGale look 'better' at this stage of his career than Benn did BTW? Benn was about 15-0, 15KO's at the same stage...

MTF ::

 

Yeah I think Watson is too cute for Froch also, he'll have a tough time but win the majority of the rounds. Regarding Benn, what a fight that would be by the way, I would favour Froch simply because as you pointed out, he nearly always finds a way to win. He can make better boxers fight his fight, he wouldn't need to do this against Nigel of course, but I dunno, I just trust him more to find a way of pulling it out the bag.

Re: DeGale, yeah Nigel had a great record, but all it proves is he was a bigger puncher than DeGale which I'm not going to argue. He also came alot closer to losing than Chunky has (Logan fight). I meant in terms of tactical nous and boxing maturity Cooky's Cousin looks far more advanced than the Dark Destroyer did after 10 fights.

 

I agree on you about Watson being robbed in the first Eubank fight and possibly being the best of the three (I actually think that Eubank was a better fighter than Watson, but Watson was his "Norton" head to head).

Watson, however, had NOTHING that could trouble Calzaghe. At least Eubank had one punch power and an awkward style (and solid chin). Watson was just a good fighter but there was nothing exceptional about him. Calzaghe would give watson the Kessler treatment.

 

agreed.

Collins wanted Jones, Jones didn't see him as a priority, Collins retired because of this. Collins and everyone else knoew he had no chance of beating Jones.

 

I agree that Collins wanted Jones for years and retired when he wasn't going to get that fight.

I disagree that Collins didn't think he could beat Jones. Collins had no chance against Eubank or Benn, either, right? Jones was great at this time and maybe the greatest ever, but this bullshit about people being afraid of him and Jones being unbeatable is just stupid. Fighters like Collins, Benn, and Eubank don't fear getting beat and they don't lack confidence. And if there is anyone who can attest to the stupidity of that assertion, it's Roy, himself. Roy knew he was beatable. And that's why he was afraid to go overseas. Afraid.

 

If I recall correctly, Collins most-wanted the Jones fight only after he had retired and needed money as he was losing a fortune on raising and breeding horses.

 

he immediately lunged forward with a weak, telegraphed left hand that missed badly. he then proceeded to throw about 20 punches in the next two minutes, half of them jabs or body punches... and a lot of backpeddling and non-aggressive movements after the knockdown.

i am not saying it would make a difference... i think collins beats him anyway, maybe even more lopsided since Eubank might've lost the rest of his steam attacking him in the 10th. but i think he backed off and was noticeably docile for the whole round after the knockdown.

 

Naz, easily

 

i don't know how legitimate it was - but in Feb 1997 after his fight with a Frenchman... Steve Collins called Roy Jones out and it sounded like he wanted to fight him. i also do believe that Collins believed he could beat Jones. His post fight interview was all about how Jones had been fooling the American public for years and that he would show him for what he truly is, etc etc. Collins was a very confident man to the point of mild delusion, imo... so i don't doubt for a second he thought he could take jones.

 

favourite - hamed
least - benn

 

I enjoyed Lewis, I guess... seemed to be a decent guy

I couldnt stand Hamed

 

Honestly, I don't know that much about Steve Collins but scrolling through his ledger I see a majority decision with Tony Thorntorn, a loss to Mike McCallum, a loss to Reggie Johnson, loss to Sumbu Kalambay followed by wins against Eubanks and Benn.

What I've always maintained is Eubanks, Collins and Benn's legacies are enhanced for NOT facing Roy Jones. They were better served fighting in England facing each other than coming here to fight Roy.

This might come as a shock, but planes fly to this side of the Atlantic as well.

 

My favorite by a mile was Nigel Benn. Perhaps my favorite Brit of all time.

Least favorite - I guess for obvious reasons, Eubank. Never cared for Bruno, although never thought enough of him to truly despise him. Johnny Nelson is up there as well, though I disliked him more towards the end of his title reign and career, which would be 00's.

 

yeah if we are going to venture outside of the 90's... Johnny Nelson and Junior Witter are probably my two least favourite Brits ever