Eddie Hearn snubs Anthony Joshua and Lennox Lewis as he names Britain’s greatest boxer ever

Britain has a long history of producing some of boxing’s greatest fighters

Eddie Hearn has made a surprise selection for his greatest British boxer of all time.

The Matchroom boss gave a few big names who could have taken top spot, but ultimately landed on four-time super middleweight champion Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch - snubbing the likes of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Lennox Lewis and Ricky Hatton.

Hearn said that based on Froch’s toughness and resilience, he had to be given the title of Britain's best.

Hearn said on the Let Me Tell You Something podcast: “Ability-wise and based on record, it would be Joe Calzaghe. From a natural skill and entertainment perspective, it would be Prince Naseem Hamed. In terms of what they did for the sport, it would be Anthony Joshua. But because of how tough he was, I’d have to pick Carl Froch.”

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Froch campaigned as one of the finest super middleweights of his era for almost a decade, having 12 consecutive world title fights before his retirement in 2014, having accumulated a record of 33-2 (24).

‘The Cobra’ became famous for his robotic and relentlessly advancing style that wore his opponents down - dragging himself to some unlikely wins against much more technically gifted boxers.

Career best wins for Froch came against Mikkel Kessler, Jean Pascal and his 12th-round knockout of Jermain Taylor with 15 seconds left in the fight when he was behind on two of the judges’ scorecards.

He cemented himself as an icon of British boxing when he shared a hate-fuelled rivalry with George Groves that culminated in a dramatic and devastating eighth-round knockout in the first boxing event at the new Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 fans.

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