In British boxing at the moment there is a hotbed in the north west of England that seems to be producing some of the best young fighters in the UK, although the reasons for some of them are different lets take a quick look at the 5 that look the best. Though the ages range this and in fact where in the north west they are from seems not to make much of a difference, they are all exceptionally talented and seems to rival the emergence from London from the late 1980′s.
5-John Murray
A Lightweight from Manchester who is now 25 has a record of 28-0 (16KO’s) and looks to be a safe bet for stepping up a level sometime in 2010. Currently the British title holder at 135lbs he has been in good form recently beating fighters like Lee Meager, Lee McAllister, Scott Lawton and Jon Thaxton in his last 4, all by stoppage. Although he’s a rather exciting pressure fighter he does look rather flawed at times and seems to overwhelm his opponents recently rather than out boxing them. Still with a few years left for him to develop he may learn to box rather than brawl though for now he’s been allowed to fight people he’s been able to walk through.
4-Tyson Fury
A giant heavyweight who’s unbeaten in 9 (7KO’s) he’s one of the young sensations that has had British boxing fans split down the middle. As a fighter he seems cocky but yet confident, in the ring he has surprisingly fast hands for a man who is over 6 foot 6 and at just 21 is yet to fully grow the muscle of a heavyweight. A fairly solid amateur background showed him to be durable and he’s from a solid fighting blood line. However in a recent fight he got a very lucky decision to claim the English heavyweight title over John McDermott, in which Fury’s inexperience in the professional ring was shown up. Having been out for the past few months with an injury it’s time for Fury to buckle down and get the rounds in that he needs, and despite having a long future ahead of him he’ll need to improve to get anywhere near the hype he was given.
3-Matty Askin
Although at the very start of his career, the 21 year old Cruiserweight may end up being the future of British boxing that comes from nowhere. Living in Blackpool he’s racked up a record of 5-0 (2KO’s) fighting experienced fighters who are there to teach him a thing or two, and as a result he’s not had the easy KO’s many others get. Currently signed to the Hatton’s promotional company and trained by Brian Hughes and with the amateur record that saw him taking the 2008 ABA Cruiserweight title he may have gone under the radar a bit for now though will be one of the ones to watch out for.
2-Tony Bellew
If Askin has failed to get the boxing worlds attention Bellew has “Bombed” his way into the British presses attention. With a perfect record of 12 wins from 12 fights (8KO’s) many are pushing him as the best prospect in the whole of Britain, though he may need to get past Welsh youngster Nathan Cleverly before he can take claim. The 6 foot 2 ½ Light Heavyweight from Liverpool is highly touted in the media and many of the boxers who have seen him have given him the plaudits that the 3 time ABA champion deserves. Trained by Anthony Farnell it’s rumoured he’ll be fighting for the Commonwealth title in March 2010 as he heads to the top.
1-Amir Khan
Although much further along in his career than any of the other fighters on this list the Bolton born fighter has spread his boxing wings and left the shores of Blight to kick on with his career in America. Trained by Freddie Roach and holding the WBA Light Welterweight title at the moment, many feel he’s the immediate future for British boxing with fast hands and fantastic boxing talent that took him to a Silver Olympic medal he may well be the guy to follow Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe. However Khan has got plenty of detractors, his mouth has often turned fans against him with a cocky and brash attitude and his chin has appeared less than durable as shown up in his only loss so far, a first round blow out by Breidis Prescott. With a record of 22-1 (16KO’s) he will be expected to face live challengers in the foreseeable future, something that he will live or die by in the ring.
Article: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2679443/the_north_west_hotbed_of_british_boxing_pg2.html?cat=14
