The Boxing Scene

The American Perception of British Fighters

The Sunday Times in London commissioned this article to run the week before Floyd Mayweather versus Ricky Hatton. The American Perception of British Fighters T here will be a lot at stake when Ricky Hatton fights Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas on December 8. Mayweather’s “poundfor -pound” crown and various sanctioning-body belts will be on the line. But more significantly, an entire historical era could be laid to rest. England is the cradle of modern boxing. But for most of the past century , the American public has looked down its collective nose at British fighters. If Hatton beats Mayweather, it will be among the biggest wins ever for a British boxer. In the first two decades of the twentieth century, British fighters campaigned successfully in the United States. Featherweight Jem Driscoll came to New York in 1908, and the following year, outboxed the legendary Abe Attell. Freddy Welsh won the world lightweight crown in 1914 and fought more than 100 times in America, emerging victorious against the likes of Ad Wolgast and Benny Leonard. Ted “Kid” Lewis fought the middle years of his 279-bout career in the colonies and seized the welterweight crown from Jack Britton in 1915. Lewis and Britton fought each other twenty times, including six world title fights that were evenly divided between them. Flyweight champion Jimmy Wilde ventured to the United States for the final years of his career. The turning point in America’s perception of British fighters came in 1927, when British, European, and Empire heavyweight champion Phil Scott came to New York and was knocked out in one round by Knute Hansen. Thereafter, Scott became known in the United States as “Phainting Phil” because of his penchant for faking fouls to win via disqualification . Then, in 1935, a heavily-hyped heavyweight named Jack Doyle came to America from Ireland, fought Buddy Baer at Madison Square Garden, and was knocked down seven times before the action was halted in the first round. Scott and Doyle gave birth to the maxim, “British heavyweights are horizontal heavyweights.” Thereafter, Tommy Farr lost a fifteen-round decision to Joe Louis. (Years later, Farr would say, “Every time I hear the name Joe Louis, my nose starts to bleed.”) And Don Cockell was demolished by Rocky Marciano. There were moments of triumph for British boxers. Jack “Kid” Berg won the junior-welterweight title in London in 1930, but lost it to Tony Canzoneri in Chicago a year later. Benny Lynch reigned as flyweight champion from 1935 through 1938, but fought exclusively in the United Kingdom. Freddie Mills toppled Gus Lesnevich in London for the light-heavyweight crown in 1948, but was dethroned by Joey Maxim in his first defense against an American. Randy Turpin defeated the great Sugar Ray Robinson in 1951, also in London, but was knocked out two months later in a rematch in New York. Terry Downes beat middleweight champion Paul Pender in London in 1961, but lost an immediate rematch in Boston. The pattern was obvious. Even the best British boxers failed when they came to the United States. And all the while, the British heavyweights kept losing. Muhammad Ali beat four of them. Henry Cooper was a good fighter whose skin betrayed him. He had all the courage in the world and fourteen losses. Ali stopped him twice; both times on cuts. Sir Henry (as he is now known) later explained what it’s like to be behind in a fight against an opponent who’s outboxing you: “You keep telling yourself, ‘I’ll do it in the next round; I’ll do it in the next round.’ And the next round never seems to come. If you care about winning—and all real fighters do—it’s the worst feeling in the world.” Cooper’s words were an allegory for decades of British heavyweight boxing . Brian London fueled the stereotype, losing to Ali in three rounds (and Floyd Patterson in eleven). Joe Bugner went the distance with “The Greatest” twice, but wasn’t competitive either time. “Bugner,” Hugh McIlvanney wrote, “is built like a Greek statue but with fewer moves.” Richard Dunn confirmed all the negative clichés about British heavyweights, losing to Ali after being knocked down five times. To the public at large, boxing is defined by the heavyweight division. Thus, when Americans thought of British fighters, they thought of British heavyweights. And British heavyweights were considered “lovable losers with glass chins” who...