Ricky Leach: My top 10 British bantamweight champions

Ricky Leach reveals his best British bantamweights

Bantamweight boxer from Margate, Ricky Leach (0-4-1) shares his top 10 list of British bantamweight champions. The talented 122-pounder has spent the first year of his career as the away fighter but plans to turn that on its head in his next fight on November 28th at Medway Park in Gillingham as he kicks off the new season as the home fighter under new manager, Joe Elfidh. The bantamweight from the South East coast of England has dreams to one day add his name to the list below and lift the coveted Lonsdale belt himself. Here he shares his top 10 list of British bantamweight champions…

10. Alan Rudkin (42-8)

 Rudkin was a British, Commonwealth, and European bantamweight boxing champion between 1965–1970. The Welshman, brought up in Liverpool, was a three times challenger for the undisputed World Championship. He was awarded an MBE in 1973. In 2007, the Liverpool Echo included him in its list of the 800 greatest Liverpudlians, as part of Liverpool's 800th anniversary. Sadly, he was found collapsed on Mount Street, Liverpool and died early on 22nd September 2010 – the cause of death is still unclear.

9. Digger Stanley (71-21-8)

Stanley was a gypsy, born in a caravan at Kingston-upon-Thames. His early boxing career was spent fighting in fairground booths before he began boxing professionally in 1899. In November 1903, he won the vacant British bantamweight title and in December of the same year he won the British flyweight title, however, back then the titles were not recognised by the British Boxing Board of Control until 1909 when the National Sporting Club began awarding the Lonsdale Belt to the British champion at each weight. Back then, the beautiful belts were made from 22 carat gold and enamel. Digger was awarded the first Lonsdale bantamweight belt and was allowed to retain it after successfully defending his British title. Stanley was also recognised by the National Sporting Club as the holder of the World bantamweight title. In June 1913, he lost his British title to Bill Beynon, on points, but four months later he got his revenge beating Benyon on points to regain it. He had his last fight in February 1919, losing to Mike Blake, and sadly died a month later, in poverty.

8. Drew Docherty (16-7-1)

 Docherty won the British title in just his ninth fight beating Joe Kelly on points in Glasgow in June 1992. Unfortunately, Docherty’s most memorable fight was when defending the Lonsdale belt against Jim Murray who collapsed in round 12 with just 34 seconds left and consequently died from injuries sustained during that ferocious encounter. He also fought for the WBO World title February 1995 in Cumbernauld, Scotland but was unsuccessful, losing in the fourth round.

7. Lee Haskins (32-3)

 The 31-year-old southpaw nicknamed ‘Playboy’ became Bristol’s first world champion in 15 years. He is a former English and Commonwealth flyweight champion and British super-flyweight champion. He is currently the WBA and IBF bantamweight champion of the world and has held the EBU European bantamweight title, WBA Intercontinental bantamweight title, IBF International bantamweight title and British bantamweight title, as well as also winning Prizefighter at flyweight division back in 2011. The southpaw is still active after over a dozen years as a professional boxer and is currently the number one in the British rankings.

6. Freddie Gilroy (28-3)

 Gilroy won a bronze medal for Ireland at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne at bantamweight. He raced to 21 fights unbeaten in the first three years in the paid ranks, quite often fighting twice in the same month and he would go on to win British, Commonwealth and European titles in a short five-year career. In 1960 he fought Alphonse Halimi for the World Bantamweight title but lost on points in London, despite knocking down Halimi in the thirteenth round and the bell saving him from defeat. In 1963 the southpaw fought fellow Belfast boxer and Olympic medallist John Caldwell in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest fights ever to be held in Ireland. Gilroy won when a cut to Caldwell's eye stopped him from carrying on. Although retaining both his British and Commonwealth titles, he immediately announced his retirement following that epic encounter. 

5. Johnny King (162-50-15)

 The Mancunian ring legend debuted at the young age of 14-years-old. Remarkably, he only won four in his first 10 professional fights in his debut year from 1926 – 1927, all held at the Boxing Club in Royton, Lancashire. He was an English professional fly, bantam, feather and lightweight boxer of the 1920s, '30s and '40s who won the first three British Boxing Board of Control’s Northern (England) Area bantamweight title, British bantamweight title, and British Empire bantamweight title, and was a challenger for the British featherweight title against Nel Tarleton, and the old International Boxing Union (IBU) World bantamweight title against Panama Al Brown. The King retired in 1947 after notching up five straight defeats, the last loss was at the hands of legendary Scottish world flyweight champion boxer, Jackie Paterson.

4. Peter Keenan (54-11-1)

Peter Keenan was a Scottish amateur flyweight and professional fly, bantam and featherweight boxer of the 1940s and '50s, who, as an amateur, was runner-up in the 1948 Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE) light-middleweight title against Henry Carpenter. As a professional, he won the Scottish Area, British, British Empire and EBU bantamweight title and was a challenger for the World bantamweight title against Vic Toweel. Keenan had earned his shot against the South African after amassing 31 straight victories in his first three years as a professional. He retired in 1959 after a glittering career spanning over a decade, losing his last fight to the aforementioned, and at the time undefeated, Freddie Gilroy.

3. Ian Napa (19-10)

The Zimbabwean lived in Hackney, London and was the former European bantamweight champion and two-time holder of the British bantamweight title. Napa won the British title in July 2006 when he boxed a return match against former conqueror, Jason Booth. The fight took place at the Robin Park Center in Wigan and ended with a points victory over 12 rounds for Napa. He went on to defend the title there a further three times against Lee Haskins, Martin Power and Colin Moffett earning the right to keep the Lonsdale belt forever. Napa regained the title with a majority decision October 2009 and contested the belt for a third time in June 2010 only to end up retiring at the end of the eighth round against future world champion, Stuart Hall.

2. Nicky Booth (17-5-1)

 Nottingham’s Nicky ‘2 Smooth’ Booth, younger brother to Jason ‘2 Smooth’ Booth, won the British and Commonwealth bantamweight title and was a challenger for the IBO bantamweight title against José Sanjuanelo and WBU bantamweight title against Nathan Sting. Nicky only won two of his first five fights and perhaps looked like an ordinary career was on the cards until putting together 10 straight victories, collecting the British and Commonwealth bantamweight titles along the way, resulting in the shot at the IBO World title.

1. Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1)

 The Doncaster boxer currently holds the WBA World Bantamweight Title and is the former IBF World Bantamweight champion, European, Commonwealth and British bantamweight champion. Following two straight defeats to British level fighters, McDonnell regrouped by returning to Doncaster and beating journeyman, Anthony Hanna via a fifth round stoppage. Two fights on the island of Jersey then followed with McDonnell scoring stoppage wins over imports Krastan Krastanov and Alain Bonnel before travelling back to Doncaster to defeat Scotland's James Ancliff, again before the final bell had been heard. In January 2010, McDonnell got his chance to fight for the British title once more, this time for the bantamweight version held by the experienced, aforementioned, Ian Napa. The fight, at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, saw a tough battle result in an upset split decision win for McDonnell with the added bonus of the vacant Commonwealth belt also being on the line. In May 2014, McDonnell fought Tamadang Da Rachawat on the undercard of Froch vs Groves II at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people. McDonnell won by TKO when he caught Rachawat with a left hook in the 10th round and bagged the vacant WBA World bantamweight title and has defended the honours twice since.  

 To follow Ricky on Twitter click here @SlikRikLeach Ricky would like to thank his sponsors Sandwich Leisure Centre and Renowned Roofing and PR Manager Tim Rickson 

Full list of all the British bantamweight champions: