Teddy Atlas has long been a keen student of boxing and has now named his favourite ever British fighter.
The American legend has plenty to go at from over the years such as undefeated super middleweight turned light heavyweight ruler Joe Calzaghe, the last undisputed heavyweight champion of the 20th century in Lennox Lewis, historic figures like Bob Fitzsimmons or much-loved personalities such as Frank Bruno and the late great Ricky Hatton.
However, none of those takes the top spot for the legendary Atlas, who instead heaped praise on someone perhaps lesser known than the aforementioned names.
Speaking on The Fight, former trainer turned pundit Atlas named his favourite ever British fighter as a former featherweight ruler.
“Number one, drum roll. He deserves it, in a sport and in a country where the history is this deep, if you made number one, you deserve a drum roll. Jimmy Wilde, deserves a drum roll. ‘The Mighty Atom’, how do you like that for a nickname? He’s one of my favourites. Great flyweight, 153 total fights, 137 wins, 6 losses, 2 draws, great flyweight champion. He had 101 knockouts.”
Wilde was a Welsh professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1923 and in that time became the first ever world flyweight champion. Despite that, Wilde would also take on bantamweights and even featherweights and often knock them out.
Widle’s final fight was a KO loss to Pancho Villa in New York City in June 1923. He died in 1969, having become a boxing referee after his retirement and was inducted into the inaugural International Hall of Fame in 1990.
