British rivalries: A look at some previous blockbusters

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will finally lock horns in an all- British heavyweight blockbuster on December 11 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

Here, BOYLE Sports looks at other celebrated British rivalries .

N Benn vs C Eubank I & II

Nigel Benn vs Chris Eubank I and II

The pair were like water and oil out of the ring but their all-action styles contributed to two thrilling contests. Eubank rose from an eighth-round knockdown to stop Benn in the ninth of their world middleweight title showdown in Birmingham in 1990. They drew the rematch three years later up at super-middleweight at Old Trafford , while the enmity spilled down a generation, with their sons, Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr , fighting twice, sharing one win apiece at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium .

Lewis vs Bruno

Lennox Lewis vs Frank Bruno

Cardiff also played host to the first world heavyweight title fight between two British -born boxers in 1993. Lewis winning Olympic gold for Canada five years earlier meant he was the pantomime villain, but he had his hand raised to retain his WBC title. After six competitive rounds, Lewis’ onslaught in the seventh finished off Bruno , who was left nursing a third consecutive world title defeat.

Froch vs Groves I & II

Carl Froch vs George Groves I and II

Another chalk-and-cheese pairing, Froch the brooding world super-middleweight champion against Groves the cocky upstart. Groves sensed a monumental upset in their first meeting in 2013 with a first-round knockdown of Froch , who rallied to controversially stop his rival in the ninth. An 80,000 crowd – a post-war attendance record in Britain – flocked to Wembley to see the rematch the following year where Froch banished all doubt with an eighth-round haymaker that flattened Groves .

Khan vs Brook

Amir Khan vs Kell Brook

Like Fury and Joshua , the two welterweights came together for a 149lb catchweight that was years in the making. However, with both boxers in the autumn of their careers, the 2022 meeting in Manchester failed to live up to the hype. Brook had chased the bout for so long and he had more left in the tank as he battered Khan , who was stopped in the sixth after a sustained beating. It later emerged Khan had tested positive for a banned substance, albeit he was exonerated of doing so deliberately.

Joshua vs Dubois

Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois

Joshua has already tasted defeat in one all- British tussle, where two years ago he was bidding to join Muhammad Ali and Lewis as the only boxers to win the world heavyweight title three times. Any notion of joining that exclusive club was nigh-on over from the moment Dubois’ overhand right detonated on Joshua’s chin in the first round. Joshua bravely got up but was knocked down twice more before Dubois closed the show with a spectacular fifth-round knockout in front of a 96,000 crowd at Wembley .

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