Ahead of such a crucial 24-hour period in the history of British boxing, it is only right to see if and where they feature on the list of Britain’s greatest heavyweights.

See below for my top 10, listed here in descending order, and let me know if you disagree.

The incredible “Tonypandy Terror” is Wales’ only representation on this list as a result of an incredible career which spanned nearly 30 years.

Born into abject poverty in the south Wales mining town from which he took his ring moniker, Farr was said to have been involved in countless bare-knuckle fights before he made his professional boxing debut in December 1926. He boxed almost exclusively in Wales, with the occasional jaunt across the border for outings in London, but his most famous night came in August 1937, when he faced the great Joe Louis at Yankee Stadium in his first fight abroad.

Farr became the first man to take “The Brown Bomber” the full 15-round distance and there were boos around the 32,000-strong crowd when Louis was announced the winner, so valiant had Farr’s effort been. His performance that night earned him fights with Jim Braddock, Max Baer and Lou Nova, all of whom he took the distance.

Although Joe Bugner may not have won a world title, like many of the names on this list, his ability to compete with the very best during the golden age of heavyweight boxing makes him one of Britain’s best.

However, his story actually starts in Szoreg, Hungary, where he was born Jozsef Kreul Bugner in 1950. He was a child refugee when his family fled to England following the Soviet Union’s invasion a few years later.

And it would be in London where he would launch his professional career, with a knockout defeat in his debut in 1967. Not dissuaded, he would go onto fight another 82 times as a professional, including distance fights with Muhammad Ali (twice), Ron Lyle and Joe Frazier. He would relocate to Australia’s Gold Coast in 1986, adopting the nickname “Aussie Joe,” and later launched an acting career.

At the time of writing, “Our ‘Enry” is the only man on this list to have received a knighthood.

That distinction goes some way to explain the regard in which Cooper is held by Britain as a result of a career which was perhaps defined most by those to whom he lost, rather than those he beat.

Of course, he nearly altered the course of boxing history in June 1963, when he dropped an 18-0 loudmouth called Cassius Clay with his famed “Enry’s ‘ammer” left hook in the fourth round of their clash at Wembley Stadium. Whether he was helped by dark arts or not, Clay got up off the canvas, regained his senses and won by knockout in the fifth.

Cooper won British and Commonwealth titles before a second crack at Clay, by then known as Muhammad Ali, in May 1966, but he was stopped on cuts in the sixth. Then, in his next fight, he was stopped by the great Floyd Patterson, too. He did, however, go on to win the European title before he lost controversially to Joe Bugner in his last fight in 1971.

Before there was Anthony Joshua and Ricky Hatton, there was Franklin Roy Bruno, perhaps the most adored British boxer ever.

The nation fell in love with the 6-foot-3 Londoner with the amiable personality and distinctive laugh. Over the course of his career, Bruno proved he could mix it with the top heavyweights, but came up short in stoppage defeats to James “Bonecrusher” Smith, Tim Witherspoon, Lennox Lewis and, of course, Mike Tyson.

However, he made sure he would not be remembered for a very British “close, but no cigar” career when he knocked out Oliver McCall to claim the WBC heavyweight title in his fourth attempt on a famous night at the old Wembley Stadium in September 1995.

Six months later, in what would be the final fight of his career, the muscle-bound Bruno failed to have his revenge over Tyson, who knocked him out for the second time, this time in the third round, to snatch his belt and send him into retirement.

This South London knockout artist is the only Brit in the exclusive, four-man club to have won world titles at both cruiserweight and heavyweight.

“The Hayemaker” became unified champion at 200 pounds before he stepped up in 2008, knocking out Monte Barrett in his debut at the new weight. In his very next fight, Haye claimed a majority decision against history’s tallest heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev, a 7-foot-2 Russian, in a fight appropriately promoted as “David vs. Goliath.”

But that victory over Valuev was really as good as it got for Haye at heavyweight, with more inside-distance wins against the likes of John Ruiz, Audley Harrison and Derek Chisora. He was soundly outpointed by Wladimir Klitschko when he attempted to unify in July 2011.

Londons’s Dubois is still very much in the thick of his career, so there is every chance he can and will secure the sort of wins to boost him even higher up future lists of this nature.

But so far, so good for “Triple D”, who is a two-time heavyweight champion at the reasonably tender age of 28. Many questioned his heart in the wake of his stoppage defeats to Joe Joyce in 2020 and then to Oleksandr Usyk almost three years later, but he responded in style, seeing off undefeated pair Jarrell Miller and then Filip Hrgovic.

That victory over Hrgovic gleaned the interim IBF title and he was elevated to full champ before he crushed Anthony Joshua on an iconic night at Wembley Stadium in what was his first defense.

A second defeat to Usyk would follow as he attempted to become undisputed champion. He bounced back again, though, this time climbing off the floor twice to stop defending WBO champion Fabio Wardley on May 9 in Manchester.

There will be some people spitting feathers that Joshua is so high on this list, given it has become strangely common to play down his achievements.

But let’s look at the facts. “AJ” claimed Olympic gold within four years of his first amateur bout and then chinned his first 15 professional opponents before knocking out defending IBF champion Charles Martin inside two rounds to claim his first world heavyweight title in 2016.

He picked up the vacant WBA strap by stopping Wladimir Klitschko in a Wembley classic, then added the WBO belt by beating Joseph Parker, before he was stunned by Andy Ruiz in New York in June 2019. But he got his revenge in their immediate rematch, widely outpointing Ruiz to become a two-time heavyweight champ in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

He lost his titles to Oleksandr Usyk and failed in a bid to become three-time king when he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois.

His place as one of British boxing’s great heavyweights is still secure. And his pulling power at the box office made him one of the country’s most popular sportsmen ever.

There is precious little footage of this man in action, and what is available is about as grainy as one would expect from a 100-year-old tape, but you cannot argue with these credentials.

There is always a debate about his Britishness given the Cornwall-born youngster relocated to New Zealand aged just 11. Still, no list of heavyweights from these shores is complete without Bob Fitzsimmons.

At just 5-foot-11, he stepped up from his position as world middleweight champion, which was no small feat in itself, to challenge “Gentleman” James J. Corbett for the heavyweight crown in 1897.

Fitzsimmons, who was outweighed by 17 pounds, was dropped in the sixth round, but clambered back to his feet and clinched victory via a body shot knockout in the 14th round in Carson City, Nevada.

He would later drop down to light heavyweight to become history’s first ever three-weight world champion. No wonder England claimed him.

Perhaps the only man who has come close to knocking our No. 1 off the top spot is “The Gypsy King” himself.

The Manchester-born heavyweight had the chance to become Britain’s first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis when he faced Oleksandr Usyk in May 2024, but he failed to do so when he dropped a split decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was then beaten unanimously by the iconic Ukrainian in their rematch seven months later before heading into the fifth retirement of his career.

Despite those losses, Fury was the man to dethrone Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 and his decision win in Dusseldorf has to go down as one of the greatest victories in British boxing history. His trilogy against Deontay Wilder, which included one draw and two stoppage wins, was not bad either.

Given he stands 6-feet-9, can move like a middleweight and boxes from both stances when his hands aren’t behind his back, it is not pushing it to say that Fury could have given any heavyweight in history a run for their money.

Arguably Britain’s greatest ever fighter regardless of weight class, Lewis is still the country’s most recent undisputed heavyweight champion following his famous unanimous-decision victory over fellow legend Evander Holyfield in 1999.

Lewis was born and raised in east London before he relocated to Canada at the age of 12. He would go on to win gold for them at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but he kicked off his professional career back in Britain a year later.

Although he was not loved by the British public in the same way Frank Bruno was, few would argue that he is the nation’s best at the weight given his resume includes victories over Vitali Klitschko, Mike Tyson, Oliver McCall, David Tua, Hasim Rahman and Bruno, in addition to that historic win against Holyfield.

Herbie Hide (49-4, 43 KOs): A two-time WBO heavyweight champion, before it was cool.

Derek Chisora (36-14, 23 KOs): A modern day cult hero, who has competed well into his 40s.

Dillian Whyte (31-4, 21 KOs): World title challenger with wins over Chisora, Parker and Alexander Povetkin.

Moses Itauma (14-0, 12 KOs): Far too early for Itauma but, log it, this man could be our best ever once all is said and done.