𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Josh Taylor announced his retirement on Monday after a 10-year professional career that saw him become undisputed champion of the super-lightweight division.

The 34-year-old southpaw is widely recognised as one of the finest fighters to hail from Scotland and delivered some magical nights both on home soil and abroad.

But where does he rank in terms of British world champions in the 21st century?

Here, we pick our 10 best male fighters from these shores since the turn of the millennium.

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10. Ricky Burns

We start the list with another Scot, Ricky Burns.

He was not picked out as someone destined for stardom in the early stages of his career, but hard work and doing the basics very well got Burns right to the top of the sport.

He first became super-featherweight champion in 2010 by beating hard-punching Roman Martinez in front of his home fans in Glasgow.

Burns would go on to capture titles at lightweight and super-lightweight to become a three-division champion.

He did have some difficult runs of form in his career and finished with eight defeats on his record, but he still deserves to make the cut for his overall achievements.

9. Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua is the biggest ticket-seller this country has ever produced, packing out Wembley multiple times.

He has also risen to the occasion time and again under immense pressure, securing impressive wins over Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin.

Being a two-time heavyweight champion is no mean feat, but his devastating losses to Andy Ruiz and Daniel Dubois push him down this list.

Joshua underwent elbow surgery earlier this year and has vowed to make a comeback. If he can climb the mountain once more, he could move higher up the rankings.

8. David Haye

David Haye’s career finished with consecutive losses to Tony Bellew, but at his peak he was a major force who won titles in two weight classes.

He made his mark as a cruiserweight first, heading over to France to beat experienced champion Jean-Marc Mormeck.

Haye followed that victory up by blasting out fellow Brit Enzo Maccarinelli inside two rounds to unify the division.

‘The Hayemaker’ then opted to step up to heavyweight and became champion with another win on the road as he edged past the giant Nikolai Valuev.

Two successful defences followed against John Ruiz and Audley Harrison before he fell short in a unification clash with Wladimir Klitschko.

7. Johnny Nelson

Johnny Nelson lost 12 of his first 38 fights and has regularly admitted over the years that he lacked the belief to become a champion in the early stages of his career.

But he finally started delivering on his potential in the late 1990s and won the WBO cruiserweight world title when he stopped Carl Thompson in 1999.

He would go on to retain his title for over six years before retiring in 2006. Nelson remains the longest reigning cruiserweight champion in history and has the joint-most successful consecutive title defences alongside Marco Huck.

The level of competition prevents Nelson from being even higher as some Brits faced tougher opponents during their reigns, but he is still one of the best boxers from the UK in the last 25 years.

6. Ricky Hatton

The following that Ricky Hatton gathered during his rapid rise was truly remarkable. He may well be the most popular fighter Britain has ever had, and he did his fans proud.

His standout moment came in June 2005 when he beat pound-for-pound great Kostya Tszyu on home turf in Manchester.

Hatton was not afraid to take risks either, and jumped up to welterweight to win a world title in a second weight division.

A knockout victory over Jose Luis Castillo led to him fighting Floyd Mayweather on a memorable night in Las Vegas.

Mayweather was simply too good for the Brit, and a devastating knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao followed.

But there is no shame in daring to be great and Hatton deserves to be remembered as one of Britain’s best.

5. Tyson Fury

There were doubts over Tyson Fury from the early stages of his career. Did he really have all the tools to become heavyweight champion of the world?

These concerns only grew after he famously punched himself in the face, and then when he was knocked down heavily by former cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham.

But Fury’s belief never wavered as he rose through the rankings before producing a stunning performance to dethrone Wladimir Klitschko in Germany.

He stayed away from the ring for almost three years after that win, but returned for a thrilling trilogy with Deontay Wilder, beating the American twice to regain his heavyweight belts.

Fury lost to Oleksandr Usyk twice last year, but is one of Britain’s greatest heavyweights and would have been a handful for anyone simply due to his incredible size and reach.

4. Josh Taylor

Some may point out that Josh Taylor lost his final three fights. Many will argue it should have been four after he was controversially declared the winner of his first clash with Jack Catterall.

But his brilliant run to undisputed status simply cannot be overlooked.

‘The Tartan Tornado’ was throw into tough fights from the start of his professional career after starring as an amateur.

This allowed him to harden himself for his toughest challenges as he won his first world title by beating Ivan Baranchyk.

He unified the division in his next fight by edging a modern-day classic against Regis Prograis to win the World Boxing Super Series. Two fights later, he was the undisputed king after seeing off Jose Ramirez.

That historic win came under Covid restrictions and arguably prevented Taylor from getting the recognition he deserves. But he took on unbeaten fighters one after the other and often came out on top, proving himself as an exceptional champion who would face anybody.

3. Carl Froch

Much like Taylor, Carl Froch took on the biggest challenges throughout his career.

After being left in Joe Calzaghe’s shadow for a number of years, Froch beat Jean Pascal to win his first super-middleweight belt, and would go on to have 12 successive world title fights.

He won 10 of them, only losing to Mikkel Kessler and all-time great Andre Ward. Froch avenged the defeat by Kessler, further enhancing his legacy.

Froch also racked up victories over Jermain Taylor, Arthur Abraham and Lucian Bute, before bringing the curtain down on his career by knocking out George Groves at Wembley.

2. Lennox Lewis

Lennox Lewis became undisputed heavyweight champion in his final fight of the 20th century by beating Evander Holyfield in their rematch.

Moving into the 2000s, he was an ageing champion but still had seven fights, winning six of them.

His only loss was a shock stoppage defeat at the hands of the unfancied Hasim Rahman in 2001, but he got his revenge with a devastating knockout of his own later that year.

Wins over Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko followed as Lewis retired while still at the very top.

Over 20 years on from hanging up his gloves, Lewis is still seen by many as the best heavyweight Britain has ever had.

1. Joe Calzaghe

Top of the tree is Joe Calzaghe.

He first became champion in 1997 when he outpointed Chris Eubank, but then had a number of low-key title defences for several years while battling hand injuries.

There were concerns that fans were losing interest in Calzaghe, but he proved his undeniable class in the final years of his career.

Calzaghe’s win over Jeff Lacy in 2006 was a masterclass. Lacy had been billed as a mini-Mike Tyson and was tipped to beat Calzaghe, but the Welshman took his rival apart from the opening bell on his way to a landslide points win.

The following year, Calzaghe won twice at the Millennium Stadium against Peter Manfredo Jr and Mikkel Kessler to mark himself out as the best super-middleweight on the planet.

It was then time to step up to light-heavyweight to fight two boxing legends. First up was Bernard Hopkins, with Calzaghe recovering from a first-round knockdown to get his hand raised.

Calzaghe then finished his career by headlining at Madison Square Garden against Roy Jones Jr. Once again, he was dropped in the opening round but proceeded to dominate the rest of the contest to walk away from the sport with an unbeaten 46-0 record.

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