Building Britain's Perfect Lightweight from the Current Crop of Fighters

Building Britain's Perfect Lightweight from the Current Crop of Fighters
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1Amateur Pedigree: Luke Campbell
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2Conditioning: Anthony Crolla
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3Fundamental Skills: Terry Flanagan
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4Power: Take Your Pick
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5Chin: Ricky Burns
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6Heart: Tommy Coyle
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7Marketability: Anthony Crolla
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Building Britain's Perfect Lightweight from the Current Crop of Fighters

May 11, 2016

Building Britain's Perfect Lightweight from the Current Crop of Fighters

Derry Mathews and Anthony Crolla are two of Britain's current crop of lightweights.
Derry Mathews and Anthony Crolla are two of Britain's current crop of lightweights.

Britain has a thriving lightweight scene right now.

Mancunians Anthony Crolla and Terry Flanagan are holding world titles at 135 pounds. England had never had a lightweight champion until July 2015—now they have two from one city.

Hopefully Crolla, who has the WBA belt in his possession, and WBO holder Flanagan will meet in a unification bout in 2016.

Luke Campbell—who has had 14 fights since turning pro after the 2012 Olympic Games—will hope to follow in the pair's footsteps and win a world title.

Scotsman Ricky Burns, meanwhile, used to hold the WBO belt that is currently in Flanagan's possession.

When you add in Scott Cardle, Tommy Coyle, Derry Mathews and Liam Walsh, there are plenty of good Brits to choose from in the division.

So what if you could take the best bits from the collection and build one perfect lightweight? Well, Bleacher Report has done exactly that.

Please note: While Burns' next fight is at super lightweight, he's deemed available for selection having won the WBO International lightweight title in his last outing.

Amateur Pedigree: Luke Campbell

Luke Campbell struck gold on home soil at the London Olympics in 2012.
Luke Campbell struck gold on home soil at the London Olympics in 2012.

Considering he has an Olympic gold medal tucked away at home, Luke Campbell was the obvious choice for this section.

The southpaw from Hull, England, defeated Irishman John Joe Nevin 14-11 in the bantamweight final at the 2012 Games in London.

Per Ben Dirs of BBC Sport, Campbell said after his victory: "I'm lost for words. It means everything. My family, my city, everyone has been so supportive."

He qualified for the Olympics by picking up a silver medal at the 2011 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.

As a reward for his successful amateur career, Campbell was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's New Year Honours list in 2013.

Conditioning: Anthony Crolla

Anthony Crolla had to weather an early storm against Ismael Barroso.
Anthony Crolla had to weather an early storm against Ismael Barroso.

Any lightweight has to be in good shape to get under the 135-pound limit. With the way Britain's current crop look, you've probably seen more fat on a chip.

However, Anthony Crolla gets the nod for this section.

The Mancunian had to be in fantastic shape for his WBA title defence against mandatory challenger Ismael Barroso on Saturday.

Against a heavy-handed Venezuelan, Crolla stood in the eye of the storm and took everything his opponent could throw at him in the opening rounds.

The brave tactic paid off as Barroso tired after making a fast start, allowing Crolla to win by KO in Round 7.

However, conditioning isn't just about doing long-distance runs and hundreds of sit-ups.

It's also about mental toughness, something Crolla showed when he recovered from a fractured skull and broken ankle suffered while trying to prevent a burglary near his home in December 2014.

Fundamental Skills: Terry Flanagan

Southpaw Terry Flanagan has an excellent jab.
Southpaw Terry Flanagan has an excellent jab.

WBO champion Terry Flanagan is a 5'9 ½" southpaw with excellent fundamental skills.

Like fellow Mancunian Ricky Hatton, Flanagan is a big fan of Manchester City. However, the similarities between the pair fail to extend to their styles in the ring.

Hatton was a high-pressure fighter who liked to get up close to an opponent and target the body. With The Hitman, you knew exactly what to expect.

Flanagan, in contrast, is a boxer who is happy to work off the front or back foot. His right-handed jab is a serious weapon, one that helped him keep fellow Englishman Derry Mathews at bay in a rough-and-tumble title defence in March.

Boxing journalist Gareth A Davies of the Telegraph described Turbo Terry as an "elusive southpaw who has natural survival instincts in the ring, and relies on boxing clever to outwit his opponents."

Power: Take Your Pick

Kevin Mitchell recorded 29 knockout victories in his pro career.
Kevin Mitchell recorded 29 knockout victories in his pro career.

The current bunch of Brits at lightweight are not known for their ability to blast out opponents.

While Campbell has recorded 11 stoppage wins in 13 outings, the majority of his early opponents never had a hope of going the distance.

If this perfect fighter had been built by Bleacher Report at the start of the year, Kevin Mitchell would have been selected for his power.

The Hammer made a habit of knocking out rivals during a pro career that saw him fall just short of winning a world title.

Of his 39 victories, 29 of them came inside the distance. Per BoxRec, he had a knockout ratio of 67 per cent.

Mitchell fails to qualify for one simple reason—he announced his retirement in February.

Chin: Ricky Burns

Ricky Burns overcame the pain of a broken jaw against Raymundo Beltran.
Ricky Burns overcame the pain of a broken jaw against Raymundo Beltran.

Ricky Burns fought through the pain of a broken jaw against Raymundo Beltran in 2013.

Scotsman Burns—who was defending his WBO lightweight title on home soil in Glasgow—suffered the injury in Round 2.

However, he gritted his teeth (quite literally) to carry on. The bout went the distance and was scored a split-decision draw, meaning a rather fortunate champion retained the belt.

How tough was it for Burns to keep going? His promoter, Eddie Hearn, told Sky Sports: "Beltran told me he could hear Ricky squealing every time they went in for a clinch."

Burns needed an operation to fix his jaw and although initially there were concerns over his future, he returned just under six months later.

While he has lost five fights, The Rickster has never been stopped in his pro career.

They sure breed them tough up in Coatbridge, Scotland.

Heart: Tommy Coyle

Tommy Coyle idolises movie character Rocky Balboa.
Tommy Coyle idolises movie character Rocky Balboa.

Before fighting Michael Katsidis in 2014, Tommy Coyle told James Smailes of the Hull Daily Mail: "I'm starting to get the nickname of Hull's Rocky Balboa because I keep having to come through these wars in the ring."

It is not hard to see why Coyle is compared to Sylvester Stallone's character from the movie series Rocky.

First, the 26-year-old is a down-to-earth fighter who has a heart of gold.

He is loved in his home city of Hull, and not just for his efforts in the ring. Coyle has opened two gyms in the area, as he told Bleacher Report last year.

And, just like Rocky, Boom Boom never knows when he's beaten.

In his fight with Daniel Brizuela in 2014, Coyle was dropped four times. He got up on each occasion before finding a way to win by TKO in Round 12.

He also took three trips to the canvas in his clash with Hull rival Luke Campbell in 2015.

After clinching victory in Round 10, Campbell told Sky Sports: "He [Coyle] is a tough man, fit and strong and knows what he's doing inside the ring. It was tough and I just wanted to show everyone what I can do."

Marketability: Anthony Crolla

Anthony Crolla has been dubbed as the nicest man in British boxing.
Anthony Crolla has been dubbed as the nicest man in British boxing.

Anthony Crolla is the nicest man in boxing.

You only had to look at Twitter after Crolla's victory over Ismael Barroso to understand just how popular the WBA champion is within the industry.

Fellow world champion Kell Brook tweeted his congratulations to the "nicest kid" in the sport. Boxer Brian Rose wrote on Twitter how "the nicest guy in boxing just became a superstar."

You get the idea—Crolla is respected by his peers.

Crolla's so nice he's even forgiven the burglars who hit him with a paving slab in December 2014. Million Dollar told David Anderson and Steve White of the Mirror: "You can’t hold on to grudges.

"This probably sounds soft, but I would talk to them now. I know they would be scared of coming out because people wanted to kill them when it happened."

Crolla—a man who has overcome adversity in and out of the ring to become a world champion—proves nice guys don't always finish last.

Do you agree with the selections for Bleacher Report's perfect lightweight? Feel free to offer an alternative opinion via the comments section.

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