Top ten Brits never to have won a world title - Part II by Matthew Hoskins May 19th 2008

Many debates have been had over who was Britain's greatest world champion, but what about the best British fighter never to win the ‘big one'?  Yet another addition to BBN's growing writing staff, Matthew Hoskins, has compiled his top ten.  Numbers six to ten was covered last week.  Here are the top five.  Opinion pieces like this always spark debate - please feel free to use the 'comment' facility at the bottom of the page. 5 - Chris Finnegan  Finnegan was the last British Olympic gold medallist until Audley Harrison some 32 years later in 2000. Finnegan was a stand-out amateur, the 1966 ABA champion at middleweight and 1968 Olympic middleweight champion. Upon turning professional he moved up to light-heavyweight debuting against Mike Fleetham and the fight was over within three rounds, Finnegan getting the stoppage win. Finnegan would taste defeat early in his career with a cut forcing his stoppage in his sixth bout against Danny Ashie. He kept fighting and winning until he met Tom Bogs for the European title and lost on a fifteen round decision. Four fights later he would get another EBU shot but first Finnegan fought for the British and commonwealth titles against Eddie Avoth. The fight was stopped in the fifteenth round with Finnegan being declared the winner and one more routine win over Pete Riccitelli resulted in another European title shot. Finnegan travelled to Berlin, Germany to fight newly crowned EBU champ Conny Velensek and the fight was scored a draw, the European title continued to elude Finnegan.    After three more fights Finnegan was granted a rematch with Velensek and this time the fight took place in Nottingham with Finnegan winning a fifteen round decision. With three more wins Finnegan was ready for the world champion and Bob foster was the WBC and WBA (the only titles around at the time) champion and is considered one of, if not the greatest ever light-heavyweight of all time. The fight took place at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London. It was brutal with both men enjoying moments of success until the fourteenth round when Foster stopped Finnegan and was declared the winner. The fight was named the 1972 fight of the year by The Ring magazine. Finnegan went on to win the British and Commonwealth titles again but then lost to future world champion John Conteh.      4 - Michael Watson  Watson was the quiet member of the great middle/super-middleweight round robin, the others being Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn. Having won ABA titles at junior and senior level, Watson turned professional in 1984 with a four round knock out of Winston Wray. Michael did however taste defeat early in his career against future British and European champion James Cook in just his eighth bout, via a points loss over eight rounds. After twelve more fights Watson had won eleven and drawn one (a technical draw due to Israel Cole being cut by a clash of heads) and Watson was close to a world title. Three fights and three wins later Watson was matched with Nigel Benn, 'The Dark Destroyer' for the Commonwealth belt. The fight took place on the 21st May 1989 and Benn entered the fight with a record of 22 wins 22 knock outs and no losses. Instead of engaging Benn, Watson sat back applying a rope-a-dope style behind a peek-a-boo guard jabbing and moving and Benn seemed to run out of ideas and after six rounds a badly marked up Benn was knocked out with a jab.  Watson's next bout was against the Jamaican WBA middleweight champion Mike 'The Body Snatcher' McCallum. Watson went forward in this fight as opposed to his normal counter punching style which had brought him victory over Benn and in the end it was McCallum who was victorious stopping Watson in eleven rounds.  After beating Errol Christie on the undercard of Benn v Eubank and picking up the Commonwealth title beating Craig Trotter, another title shot beckoned. Watson and Eubank met for the WBO middleweight title on the 22nd June 1991 at Earls Court, London. The fight itself was not great but most ring side and watching on ITV felt Watson had done enough to win however the fight was awarded to Eubank on a majority decision.      The rematch took place at White Heart Lane on the 22nd September 1991 and the fight will forever be remembered for its tragic conclusion. With Watson ahead on the score cards in the eleventh round, Eubank dropped him heavily near his own corner and when the bell went all was not well with Watson.  When the fight resumed in the twelfth round Eubank hurt Watson before unloading with both hands and the fight was stopped moments later. Watson collapsed and went about 30 minutes without oxygen as there was insufficient medical assistants around (an ambulance had to be rushed from a nearby hospital). Watson spent the next forty days in a coma and had six operations on his brain to remove blood clots. His recovery was slow but as time passed he was able to eat, write and speak. Though it was believed by neurosurgeons that he would not walk again, in 2003 he completed the London marathon and Chris Eubank and himself have since become friends. He may not have won a world title but he won the biggest fight, the fight for life.     3 - Henry Cooper  'Our 'enry', as he was affectionately known. The reason Henry places so high on our list is because he came within a whisker of beating the most famous boxer and sportsman of all time. Born an identical twin in south east London, Henry had a prolific amateur career before turning pro on 14th September 1954 with a first round KO. He to would taste defeat early in his career, just nine bouts in he was stopped by Uber Bacilieri in two rounds. Another set back two fights later against Joe Erskine (Lost points 15) in a British title eliminator would not discourage Henry. Cooper went on and put some solid wins together including a first round knock out of Brian London who was 12-0 at the time.  Despite these wins a bad patch was just around the corner and during his next seven fights he went 1-5-1 one of the loses was a cut, one was against Joe Erskine and another was against future world champion  Ingemar Johansson. Coopers fortunes changed with wins over Dick Richardson, future world title challenger Zora Folley and again over Brian London which also brought him the British and Commonwealth titles.   One win later and his old nemesis Joe Erskine was up next, this time it wasn't left up to the referee to decide. Cooper despatched Erskine in twelve rounds thanks to Henry's hammer (his left hook). Three more wins including another over Erskine (this time stopped in five rounds) and next up was a rematch against Zora Folley. This time it was Cooper who was stopped in two rounds. Three fights and three wins later including repeat wins over Erskine and Dick Richardson, next up was Muhammad Ali  (or Cassius Clay as he was then known).   The fight went as was expected for four and a half rounds with Ali dancing around Henry jabbing and moving, Ali was winning easy. In the closing stages of the fourth round Henry uncorked a left hook that landed flush and Ali went down heavily, but before Cooper could capitalise the bell sounded bringing the round to an end. There is some controversy as to how long Ali was in his corner as Angelo Dundee allegedly ripped Ali's glove and informed the referee that they needed to be changed and some have said Ali got an extra minutes rest, however if you check the fight footage he only seems to get an extra ten seconds at the most.  In the next round Ali attacked a cut that had opened up over Cooper's eye forcing the referee to step in and stop the contest in favour of Ali. Cooper went back to fighting at domestic level going 6-2, his losses on points to Amos Johnson and Roger Rischer. Winning two he was set for a rematch with Muhammad Ali. The fight took place at Arsenal Football Stadium, Highbury, London with 40,000 in attendance and this time for the heavyweight championship of the world. The fight went much the same as the first except there would be no drama, Ali again cut Cooper but kept away from the left hook and the bout was again stopped on cuts making Ali the winner.   Next up for Cooper was former champion Floyd Patterson, however the fight was stopped in the fourth after Cooper had been knocked down three times. Cooper bounced back with solid wins over Jack Bodell, Billy Walker and European champion Karl Mildenberger who was disqualified for illegal use of his head. In what would turn out to be his last fight he took on up and comer Joe Bugner, the fight was close and many felt that Cooper had done enough to win. The decision in favour of Bugner was met with boos from the crowd in attendance, Copper thought he had done enough and did not speak to referee Harry Gibbs for years after.  Although he came so close to winning the big one he didn't quite make it but will forever have a place in the hearts of the British public. If he were fighting today he wouldn't even be a heavyweight, he would have been small for a cruiserweight. In all he won three Lonsdale belts outright (a feat that will never be repeated due to changes in the rules), the Commonwealth and European title and was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year twice (in 1967 and 1970) as well as being knighted in 2000.   Perhaps Britain's best loved boxer of all time.    2- Tony Sibson Sibbo, as he was known, was a barrel chested middleweight from Leicester. Born in 1958 and despite being only 5 8" in height he was extremely broad and strong at the weight. Sibson turned professional at the age of eighteen with a two round knock-out of Charlie Richardson. After twenty-six wins and one draw Sibson would taste defeat for the first time against the highly touted Lottie Mwale. The fight was relatively short and Tony was knocked out in the first few minutes. Sibson rebounded with three wins, however in his forth fight back after his first loss he dropped an eight round points decision to Eddie Smith. Two fights later he reversed the decision beating Smith over ten rounds and in his next fight he would challenge for the vacant British title against Frank Lucas. Sibson stopped Lucas in five to become the new British middleweight champion. Sibson fought four more times before another set back, losing his Lonsdale belt to Kevin Finnegan on points over fifteen rounds and he appeared to be in a slump. Sibson turned his fortunes around and would not lose for another fifteen fights. After the Finnegan fight Sibson reeled off five wins including a commonwealth title win over Chisanda Mutti. His next fight was for the EBU title against Matteo Salvemini who was 22-0-0 at the time. Sibson despatched of Salvemini in seven rounds to be crowned the new European champion. Two fights later Sibson travelled to The Bull Ring, Bilbao in Spain to face Andoni Amana.  Travelling to Spain was no easy feat let alone retaining there as Sibson did so, beating Amana on points over twelve rounds.     Up next would be the toughest fight of Sibson's career so far against former world middleweight champion Alan Minter who in his last five fights had faced Vito Antuofermo twice, Marvin Hagler and Mustafa Hamsho. Sibson did the unthinkable and stopped Minter in three rounds the same time it had taken Hagler.     Two fights later Sibson was matched against Dwight Davison in a final eliminator for the WBC middleweight title. Sibson won the fight on points over twelve rounds sending the American home defeated for only the second time.    Two more fights and Sibson was ready. Marvin Hagler's first fight of 1983 was against Sibson at the DCU Centre, Worcester, Massachusetts . The fight was very one sided although Sibson didn't stop trying, but this was Hagler at his best. Sharp, fast and accurate, Hagler pressed on and Sibson had no answers with the fight being stopped after six brutal rounds. Next Sibson took on John Collins in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Collins was 29-0 at the time but Sibson stopped him in the second. Two fights later Sibson was stopped by Don Lee inside eight rounds. Sibson returned to Britain to take on the very capable Mark Kaylor winning a unanimous decision over twelve rounds for all three domestic titles. Four fights later and Sibson fought for a world title for the second time, this time at light-heavyweight against Dennis Andries for the WBC belt. Sibson was never in the fight and was stopped having gone down three times in the ninth. In his last fight and last roll of the dice he faced Frank Tate, the IBF champion at his more suitable weight of middleweight. Tate being younger and fresher stopped ‘Sibbo' in ten rounds. Sibson retired and returned to his native Leicester.    1 - Herol Graham  ‘Bomber' as he was affectionately known was born in Nottingham in 1958 and he was a stand out amateur. He was 1976 world junior welterweight champion (beating John "the beast" Mugabi in the final) and the 1978 ABA light-middleweight senior champion having lost in the final the previous year. Graham turned professional with a six round decision win over Vivian Waite on the 28th of November 1978. Graham worked his way through a succession of journeymen and contenders to a record of 17-0 and a British title win over the tough Pat Thomas on points over fifteen rounds.  Unlike some of the others on this list Graham fought and won 38 times before tasting defeat on the way to picking up the British title (against the aforementioned Thomas), the Commonwealth title beating Kenny Bristol on points and the European title, stopping Clement Tshinza in two rounds. All of these wins came at light-middle before he moved up to take on Jimmy Price for the British middleweight title, winning in one round. Next up he stopped Ayub Kalule in ten rounds for the European middleweight title.  After three more wins Graham was challenged by future world champion Sumbu Kalambay for his EBU (European) title. Despite boxing well in his unconventional manner Graham lost for the first time in 38 starts via unanimous decision. Graham rebuilt with three solid wins beating James Cook for the vacant British title along the way.  Next up was Mike McCallum, the ‘body-snatcher' for the vacant WBA middleweight title. The fight was close, many had either fighter the winner and judge Jesus Celis scored the fight 117-114 for Graham; however the other two judges sided with McCallum.  Just two fights later Graham was paired with Julian Jackson for the vacant WBC crown and he set about seriously out boxing Jackson for three rounds and much of the fourth. However, Graham was caught with a right hand in round four that knocked him out before he'd hit the canvas. Despite winning his next fight against John Ashton he lost his next two against Kalambay in a rematch and to Frank Grant for the British title. He retired for four years after these two performances.  Herol decided to come back in 1996 with an eight round points decision over Terry Ford and two fights later Graham stepped up in class to face Vinny Pazienza. The fight was fairly one sided with Graham winning a unanimous decision.  In what would turn out to be Graham's last fight he took on Charles Brewer of Philadelphia for the IBF super middleweight title. The fight was going the way of Graham having dropped Brewer twice, however the bout was turned on its head in the 10th when brewer knocked Graham out. It was his last world title fight and his last fight. Fighting in the same era as Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank it is amazing that their paths never crossed - some say it was because Graham was too good for his own good.

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Pat Cowdell May 19th 2008, 11:41:24 by tom-podmore Two good pieces, Matthew. I would, however, like to throw one esteemed name into the melting pot: Pat Cowdell. The skilful Brummie was an Olympic bronze medallist and pushed the great Salvador Sanchez to a split decision in Texas (might as well have been Mexico for the amount of Tex-Mex supporters baying for Cowdell’s blood) for the WBC featherweight crown. The fact that Pat boxed his head off for most of the contest says it all. I think Pat, who also reigned as the best in Britain and Europe for a number of years, is certainly up there in the column of the best British fighters never to win a world title. He had it all but a concusive punch. Good call on Tony Sibson and oft-forgotten Chris Finnegan, mind.