The 5 Best English Born Boxers of All Time

England has been the birth place of so many great boxers over the years, some of the great champions, some amazing contenders and some just falling short of the top. They range from multiple weight champions to dominating forces in a single division, though some of the best ones may have been known for fighting outside of the land of their birth this list concentrates solely on English born fighters, not just "English fighters". So lets look at the top 5 English born fighters of all time, their achievements and longevity as well as their impact on the sport will be considered.

5-Naseem Hamed
Born: 12^th February 1974
Birthplace: Sheffield
Nickname: Prince
Titles held: European Bantamweight title, WBC international Super Bantamweight title, WBO Featherweight title, IBF Featherweight title, WBC Featherweight title and IBO Featherweight title
Record: 36-1 (31)

Naseem Hamed is often seen as one of the greatest wastes in British boxing history though his flamboyance, his hard hitting and his cockiness brought a new audience to the sport and made the lower weights more exciting. Though he'd go off the boil for his last 2 fights he only ever lost once, to a living legend in Marco Antonio Barrera and looking back, that's not a bad guy to lose to. He'd pick up 3 of the 4 major straps at Featherweight and were it not for the sports political side would also have been the WBA champion (Wilfredo Vazquez was stripped of the title) as well. A star on both sides of the Atlantic he was electric explosive and a star who for 5 years dominated his division.

4-Joe Calzaghe
Born: 23^rd March 1972
Birthplace: London. England
Nickname: Pride of Wales
Titles held: WBO Super-Middleweight title, IBF Super Middleweight title, WBC Super-Middleweight title, WBA Super-Middleweight title, British Super-Middleweight title, Ring title (Super-Middleweight and Light Heavyweight)
Record: 46-0 (32)

Calzaghe, better known as a Welshman with Italian roots was actually born in England which is why he's eligible for this list. Unbeaten in 15 years as a professional and spending over 10 of them as a champion says it all in fact he won it all at Super Middleweight taking all 4 of the major straps available as well as the Ring title. The fact that criticisms about his career have been mentioned over and over, his happiness to stay in his comfort zone facing mandatories and soft voluntaries rather than chasing the bigger fights does harm his legacy. The absence of fights against the likes of Sven Ottke and Markus Beyer are the key reason that he's only #4 on this list, though late career wins over Jeff Lacy, Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones do help him gain some level of standing.

3-Lennox Lewis
Born: 2^nd September 1965
Birthplace: London, England
Nickname: The Lion
Titles held: 3x WBC Heavyweight title, 2x IBF Heavyweight title, 2x IBO Heavyweight title, WBA Heavyweight title, European title, British Title, Commonwealth title, Ring title (All at Heavyweight)
Record: 41-2-1 (32KO's)

Lennox Lewis was English born though he has Jamaican roots and a strong link to Canada, though what makes Lennox such a great was what he did, he defeated every man he fought, he was the last "great" heavyweight and mixed everything a fighter needed. One of the first line of "Super Heavyweights" that seem to have ruled the professional Heavyweight division recently (followed by the Klitschko's) he won everything other than the WBO belt, and became only the third "3 time heavyweight champion" (behind Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield). He dominated the heavyweight division for much of the late 1990's and early 00's though suffering 2 upset losses and a draw to Evander Holyfield he beat all 3 in rematches. The main stalling point is that his 2 biggest wins, Tyson and Holyfield came at the end of their great careers (admittedly Holyfield is "still fighting" though a shell of his former self).

2-Ted Lewis
Born: 28^th October 1893
Died: 20^th October 1970
Birthplace: London, England
Nickname: "Kid"
Titles held: European Featherweight title, British Featherweight title, 2x World Welterweight, British Welterweight title, European Welterweight title, Commonwealth Welterweight title, British Middleweight title, European Middleweight title, British Light Heavyweight title and Commonwealth Middleweight title
Record: 232-44-24 (80KO's)

With 300 fights and one of the most decorated careers in British boxing history it's hard not view "Kid" as one of the best ever. One of the few fighters to have taken multiple weight titles at European level and British level in fact having fought from Featherweight to Light Heavyweight in a career that lasted 20 years Lewis failed to do little. His rivalry with Jack Britton was one of the greatest we've ever had in boxing and he also held a draw with the amazing Benny Leonard. In his late 20's he even met Georges Carpentier (who was one of the few fighters to stop Lewis) in a Light Heavyweight world title fight as well as Maxie Rosenbloom.

1- Robert Fitzsimmons
Born: 26^th May 1863
Died: 22^nd October 1917
Birthplace: Cornwall, England
Nickname: Ruby Rob
Titles held: World Middleweight, World Heavyweight and World Light Heavyweight
Record: 70-8-6-15 (No Contests or No Decisions) (60KO's) -Approx

Though his actual record is unknown, Bob Fitzsimmons was the first ever 3 weight champion and one of the few men to have held both Middleweight and Heavyweight titles, he's the only man to drop from Heavyweight to take a title at Light Heavyweight belt and had a worryingly power punch. For a fighter with around 100 contests on his record it's he mixed with the very best of the era, facing such all time boxing greats as Jack "The Nonpareil" Dempsey, Joe Choynski, Tom Sharkey, James J Corbett, James J Jeffries, Philadelphia Jack O'Brien and Jack Johnson in a career that stretched back over 30 years. Of course better known as being based in New Zealand where he moved when he was young, he's the best English born boxer of all time, his status as one of boxing's greatest ever fighters says it all. A tough and hard hitting fighter who's "Solar Plexus Punch" is one of the most famous showed himself to be the challenger of much bigger men.