There are so many good fights between British fighters at the moment that I can’t think of a better time in boxing.
I would even go further and suggest that right here and now, this is the best country in the world when it comes to the sport ? amateur and professional.
“What makes British boxing even better is that all of a sudden there are so many big fights that look like happening, so people will soon start looking in on what we are doing.” Glenn McCrory
A tiny island ? and an even smaller one in the shape of Ireland ? cleaned up at the Olympics two years ago, which doesn’t always happen.
And what other country in the world would pack in a crowd of 80,000 fans to see two home fighters go at it? Yes, there was a world title or two at stake when it came to Carl Froch and George Groves, but would you see that anywhere else?
Floyd Mayweather is the best in the world and the biggest earner but can you see him going in against anyone other than Manny Pacquiao and it matching Froch-Groves II? No.
And what makes British boxing even better is that all of a sudden there are so many big fights that look like happening, so people will soon start looking in on what we are doing.
Back in the day we had the likes of Alan Minter against Chris Finnegan, then Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank, Eubank and Steve Collins, in fact Chris Eubank and anyone!
They happened to have world titles but these were guys who didn’t like each other and wanted to beat the other one, put them in their place and prove a point.
Money is always behind putting a fight on, but sometimes it goes beyond the pound signs. It always helps ? especially if you lose ? but all of a sudden there are fights that fighters want and we all want to see as well. That puts us top of the list.
Perhaps in the past our guys wanted to go across the pond and take on the Americans, but is there the same number of big-name superstars over there now? I don’t think so. They don’t have a heavyweight world champion and I am still amazed at the power of MMA in comparison to boxing in the US.
There used to be big fights over there and you were lucky if you made it. Amir Khan did that and Froch wants to sign off in Las Vegas, but who do we really want to see Amir fight next? Kell Brook, of course – and that will not be in Vegas.
