Light Heavyweight Britain's Deepest Boxing Division

Britain's heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight division has quietly become the country's deepest weight class. Five British fighters currently occupy slots in The Ring's top 10 at 175 pounds, a larger share than any other single division, according to an analysis published by Ring Magazine.

The concentration of talent gets its latest showcase Saturday night when Lewis Edmondson and Lyndon Arthur meet at St Mary's Stadium in Southampton. Edmondson described the bout to The Ring as a "winner stays on" scenario, given how stacked the domestic scene has become. Neither man holds a top-15 ranking with the four major sanctioning bodies, but ten British light heavyweights do.

Smith and Yarde anchor loaded top 10

Callum Smith sits at No. 2 in The Ring rankings after stopping Joshua Buatsi in what many consider the best victory of his 14-year professional career. The 36-year-old has challenged for world titles twice, falling short against Canelo Alvarez at middleweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">super middleweight and Artur Beterbiev at heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight, but his January points win over Buatsi proved he remains a force at 175 pounds. Anthony Yarde holds the No. 3 spot despite three stoppage losses in world title fights against Sergey Kovalev, Beterbiev, and David Benavidez. The 34-year-old insists he has one more world title attempt left in him.

Buatsi, the 2016 Olympian trained by Virgil Hunter, has racked up wins over Craig Richards, Dan Azeez, Willy Hutchinson, and Zach Parker during nine years as a professional. His sole defeat came against Smith. Hutchinson, a switch-hitter rated No. 6 by The Ring, has rebuilt well since his 2019 upset loss to Lennox Clarke and sits inside the top five with two of the four major sanctioning bodies despite dropping a split decision to Buatsi at Wembley Stadium last September.

Lerrone Richards entered The Ring's top 10 at No. 8 despite officially losing to Albert Ramirez in Montreal earlier this month in a decision most observers felt he won. Ben Whittaker, the 2020 Olympic silver medalist who turned professional in 2022, makes his U.S. debut June 27 against Richard Rivera on the Jaron Ennis-Xander Zayas undercard at Barclays Center. Zak Chelli secured the No. 4 WBO ranking by stopping David Morrell with 36 seconds left in their 10-rounder on May 9, setting up potential matchups against Smith or Whittaker.

Zach Parker remains ranked at No. 8 with the WBC and No. 10 with the WBO after his controversial majority decision loss to Buatsi seven months ago. Craig Richards holds the No. 9 WBC spot after back-to-back wins over Padraig McCrory and Dan Azeez, hoping for one more big opportunity at age 36. Former European champion Bradley Rea lost his belt to Arthur in November but rounds out the list of British light heavyweights ranked by the major sanctioning bodies.

Source: ringmagazine.com