19.04.06 – By James Allan: For almost the entire twentieth century, their American counterparts treated British Heavyweight boxing and boxers as a kind of running comedy. Bombardier Billy Wells, Joe Beckett, Phil Scott, Brian London, Richard Dunn the list of much maligned British Heavyweights could fill an entire column. The fighters who did gain some credibility did so through putting up brave but losing efforts.
Tommy Farr fought well against Joe Louis but clearly lost. Don Cockell managed to stay upright for nine rounds against Rocky Marciano, when he was expected to fall in one. Henry Cooper had Muhammed Ali out on his back in their first fight when he landed a wicked left hook that sent Ali falling to the canvas. Only the bell and Angelo Dundee’s quick thinking saved him, though to be fair once Ali’s head had cleared he punched Cooper’s eyes to shreds in the next round.. Joe Bugner had the size and the talent to make a real impact on the World scene but unfortunately he committed two serious errors. He beat Henry Cooper for his British, Commonwealth and European Titles and he put up almost no fight at all when facing Ali for the World Championship. The first mistake was enough to have him ostracised by almost every Grandmother in the country. ‘Our Enery’ was beloved by the public and they weren’t pleased when a man who started life in Hungary took his titles from him. The second mistake pretty much finished him as far as everybody else was concerned. Joe always had the reputation of being a bit unpredictable as far as his performances in the ring went. In one fight he would be good, the next fight he would be awful. But in the Ali fight he spent more time clinging to Ali than he did boxing. We British can be accused of loving a loser, but we at least expect them to give their best before they eventually succumb. Joe didn’t.
In the Eighties, Frank Bruno started to gain some attention on both sides of the Atlantic with his quick victories and obvious punching power. However, his loss to James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith and the strange dance he performed when Floyd Cummings nailed him brought his vulnerabilities to everyone’s attention. A lack of stamina and a while not exactly glass, but certainly not a granite chin. Still the British public loved him, he had courage, he was dedicated, he was great in Panto and he did eventually manage to win a version of the World title at the fourth time of asking. Herbie Hide and Michael Bentt both held the extremely lightly regarded WBO belt during the early 1990’s. Bentt was injured while losing the title to Hide and never fought again. Herbie was quick and possessed a good punch, he also possessed a jaw more fragile than an after eight mint. An absolutely devastating knockout loss to Lithuanian journeyman Mendauga Kulikauskas in 2004 put paid to any lingering hopes he still had for his career.
It was only when Lennox Lewis came back from Canada and proclaimed his Britishness, that finally the country had a fighter who really was capable of becoming the number one heavyweight in the world. Lennox was never really taken to the hearts of the people in the same way that big Frank was. He didn’t have the same infectious warmth about him that Bruno had and he was never really accepted as being truly British having spent most of his life in Canada and also having boxed for Canada in the 1988 Olympics. However, after almost a century of sometimes hopeless and sometimes gallant losers in the sports premier division, we were quite happy to claim him so long as he done the business and to his credit, he eventually did. There may have been a few up’s and down’s along the way but by the time he retired he was accepted as the number one heavyweight in the world and a fighter capable of being mentioned in future top ten lists.
This brings us to the current crop of Heavyweight fighters. Danny Williams and Matt Skelton are set to meet again in July to repeat their bruising encounter from February. Both of these fighters have heart and given the current state of the Heavyweight scene, neither could be discounted from winning a version of a World Title. One fighter whose sorry career basically sums up the frustration that British fight fans have had to endure for so long is, yes you’ve guessed it, Audley Harrison. Audley, Ordinary, Audrey, A-Farce, call him what you will, was there ever a fighter who promised so much and yet delivered so little. It is pointless to discuss Audley, so much, almost all of it correct, has been said about him over the last few days that you would only be repeating what other people have already mentioned. Audley is finished as far as the top level of the sport goes, despite what he and a few misguided fans might think.
Hopefully within the next couple of years a British heavyweight can come on the scene who can get the boxing fans behind him and who is good enough to compete with the best in the division. Roman Greenberg is making slow progress and he has to start moving up in class. However, at 24 time is on his side. Whether or not he is the fighter likely to get the public behind him is highly debatable. Michael Steeds and Scott Gammer are two young British fighters who are also drawing some attention, but in truth, I fear we may be looking at another hundred year wait until we find another truly British Heavyweight capable of becoming undisputed champion.