Great Expectations: The Renaissance of British Boxing

To paraphrase Mark Twain, 'the demise of British boxing has been greatly exaggerated.'

Admittedly it was on the ropes for several years, virtually decades, but British boxing is currently undergoing something of a renaissance fuelled by good quality homegrown fighters participating in genuine marquee fights.

In recent years, the British public's appetite for boxing has rarely been satisfied by the quantity or quality of homegrown fighters.

Despite this 55,000 people turned up at the City of Manchester Stadium to watch Ricky Hatton fight Juan Lazcano in 2008. It is testament to the enduring popularity of Hatton that he was able to draw such an enormous crowd for a fairly meaningless fight against a journeyman boxer.

When Amir Khan made his professional debut after winning an Olympic silver medal he was the main event of a show at the 6,000-seat capacity Bolton Arena.

Nowhere else in the world would a burgeoning boxer be thrust so immediately into the limelight. Britain is a boxing nation which craves the success its boxers have enjoyed only intermittently over the years.

In 1995, Frank Bruno defeated Olive McCall at Wembley Stadium to win a world heavyweight title at the fourth attempt. Bruno was beloved by the British people precisely for his previous failures and his ability to bounce back.

While he had the adulation of the British public, respect for Bruno as a boxer was by no means universal and few were surprised when he lost his title almost immediately to the then-dominant Mike Tyson.

Just as Bruno began to fade another British heavyweight fighter emerged. Lennox Lewis' boxing credentials were far greater than those of Bruno, who he defeated in 1993. Lewis' credentials as an Englishman were slightly more suspect, he was born in London but moved to Canada at the age of 12, and represented Canada in the Olympics before switching allegiance after turning pro.

Lewis went on to establish himself as one of the most dominant heavyweight champions of all time, defeating the likes of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and Vitali Klitschko in the process. While Lewis was definitely appreciated by British fight fans his appeal was slightly diminished by his strong Canadian accent.

Middleweight boxers Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn emerged in the mid '90s and their rivalry captured the imagination of the British boxing public. They belonged very much to the domestic boxing scene though, fighting almost exclusively on British shores and neither ever really made an international impact.

Another British boxer to emerge in the mid '90s was 'Prince' Naseem Hamed. He soon had the British public believing in him and after a series of spectacular knock outs the rest of the world was starting to wonder.

Then came Marco Antonio Barrera who handed Hamed the first and final loss of his career in 2001. Hamed was never the same after this one sided beating and another British prospect bit the dust, in Hamed's case perhaps a little prematurely.

Lennox Lewis left the scene two years later presciently deciding to walk away from the sport after a stoppage win over Vitali Klitschko. Since then British fight fans have had to subside on the most meagre of scraps.

Danny Williams was hand-picked to lose to Mike Tyson in 2004, but Williams thwarted Tyson's comeback plans with an early stoppage. It proved to be a one-off and Williams slide back into obscurity was as prompt as it was predictable.

So desperate were the British public that they embraced Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison with open arms. Heavyweight Harrison was hailed as the saviour of British boxing but the handiwork never matched the hype and Harrison soon dropped off the radar.

Ricky Hatton was everything the British look for in a boxer. Hatton was a real working class hero, particularly in his native Manchester. His habit of tucking into a full British breakfast on the morning of his fights made him a nutritionists nightmare but a firm fan's favourite.

Hatton was the heavy underdog in 2005 when he defeated Kosta Tszyu to win the IBF Light Welterweight title and he was named the Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year. He went on to find some success in the US, convincingly defeating Jose Luis Castillo and Paulie Malignaggi, but was overmatched and overwhelmed against both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Hatton retired earlier this year.

Joe Calzaghe was the real deal and the most dominant middleweight of his era. Had he been English rather than Welsh we would have heard even more about the undefeated Calzaghe but he did eventually make it onto the international scene defeating Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr in the twilight of his career.

Hatton and Calzaghe were for a long time the only two beacons of light in the British boxing darkness. With both men's careers finishing in quick succession the future for British boxing looked bleak.

Fast forward to 2010 and there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Wins over WBA world heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev and veteran John Ruiz have established David Haye as a genuine heavyweight contender.

Haye has more than earned his right to take on one or both of the Klitshcko brothers and is arguably the most exciting heavyweight prospect on the planet.

Amir Khan's career since turning professional has been a mixed bag. Questions still linger over his durability and his chin but he will have an opportunity to silence the doubters once and for all when he faces Paulie Malignaggi in the main event at Madison Square Garden next month. Khan will be defending the same WBA Light Welterweight title which Hatton held back in 2005/2006.

On the same night the unbeaten Kevin Mitchell will be roared on by a partisan crowd at Upton Park. Mitchell will be up against Michael Katsidis and will be hoping to put on a performance at the home of West Ham Utd, his local football team. The WBO Interim Lightweight title will be on the line.

David Haye looks set to move onto bigger and better things after comfortably dispatching John Ruiz recently and Mitchell and Khan can follow in his footsteps if they can win their forthcoming fights. Both will have their work cut out against vastly experienced opponents but their very participation in contests of this magnitude is clearly cause for celebration in Britain.

Nights like these are no more than the British fight fans deserves after patiently enduring years in the boxing wilderness. In the space of three months British boxers will have been involved in three world title fights. British boxing is enjoying a resurgence and Haye, Khan, and Mitchell are all at the forefront of it.