At the time of writing, there are no fewer than five British light heavyweights in The Ring’s top 10. That 50 percent share is more Brits than in any other single weight class.

Lewis Edmondson and Lyndon Arthur meet Saturday night at St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton in a clash between two of the UK’s light heavyweight contenders. Edmondson recently told The Ring that the fight is a case of “winner stays on,” given how competitive the British 175-pound division is right now.

As it stands, neither man is inside the top 15 with any of the four sanctioning bodies, but there are a 10 British light heavyweights who are. We take a look at the runners and riders in no particular order.

Rated No. 2 by The Ring, it is difficult to argue that Smith is currently Britain’s best at the weight. Smith, 36, is a two-time world title challenger, but he came up short against Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight in December 2020 before he was stopped at 175 pounds by then-unified king Artur Beterbiev in January 2024.

He has won twice since then, with his points victory over Joshua Buatsi last time out – arguably the best win of his career to date. With 33 fights across nearly 14 years as a professional, he is also the most experienced on this list.

Just one place below Smith in The Ring rankings is “Beast from the East.” He, too, has tried and failed to win world titles already, but was stopped in his trio of attempts.

In fairness to him, he happened to come up against three of history’s great light heavies in Sergey Kovalev, Beterbiev and David Benavidez. Away from those defeats, his two best victories came against Arthur in their trilogy, which Yarde won 2-1.

Still one of Britain’s most established fighters, the 34-year-old Yarde is adamant he has one more world title tilt in him.

There were extremely high hopes for Buatsi when he turned over after the 2016 Olympics, but his career has never quite taken off during his nine years as a pro. Even so, he has racked up wins against fellow Brits Craig Richards, Dan Azeez, Willy Hutchinson and Zach Parker.

The only defeat of his career came against Smith, but, at 33, the Virgil Hunter-trained Londoner still has time to set up his first shot at a world title.

The maverick of the pack, the switch-hitting Hutchinson is The Ring’s No. 6-rated light heavyweight. It is now more than five years since he was stunned by underdog Lennox Clarke, who handed him his first professional defeat, but Hutchinson has rebuilt well since then.

He dropped a split decision to Buatsi at Wembley Stadium in September 2024, but has beaten fellow Brits Mark Jeffers and Ezra Taylor since. At just 27, “The Hutch Train” has time on his side and is well placed given that he is currently inside the top five with two of the four major sanctioning bodies.

The most recent entrant to The Ring’s top 10, Richards jumped up to No. 8 despite officially losing his last fight. He appeared to win quite clearly against undefeated Albert Ramirez in Montreal earlier this month, only to be denied the best victory of his career by the judges.

“Sniper The Boss” is a masterful boxer who has struggled for opportunities throughout his career, though that could change if he gets a deserved rematch against Ramirez later this year.

At 29, Whittaker is not the youngest on this list, but he is still considered something of a prospect given he only turned over in 2022 after taking silver at the Olympics in Tokyo. He has boxed 12 times since and is set to make his U.S. debut June 27, when he takes on Richard “Popeye” Rivera on the undercard of Jaron Ennis against Xander Zayas at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

If you were to buy shares in any British light heavyweight, the Andy Lee-trained Whittaker might return the largest upside, even though he still has a long way to go.

The 28-year-old schoolteacher had become the division’s forgotten man until May 9, when he secured one of the biggest upsets of the year by stopping David Morrell with just 36 seconds remaining in their 10-rounder.

That victory secured Chelli, the former British and Commonwealth super middleweight champion, the No. 4 spot with the WBO and will no doubt lead to a big opportunity against another of Britain’s leading lights, with fights against both Smith and Whittaker mooted.

Derbyshire’s Parker has become something of a nearly man in Britain after retiring from an interim world title fight against John Ryder in 2022 with a broken hand and then dropping a controversial majority decision against Buatsi seven months ago.

He has yet to box since that defeat, a fight many people thought he won on the cards, but he remains at No. 8 with the WBC and No. 10 with the WBO. The father of two can fire himself back into the mix with a big win in his next outing.

The South Londoner has emerged as one of Britain’s most experienced light heavyweight campaigners over the course of his 11-year professional career. Richards' route to the top, however, has been obstructed by a trio of defeats in the past four years to against Dmitry Bivol, Buatsi and Hutchinson.

But the 36-year-old “Spider” has beaten Padraig McCrory and Dan Azeez in his last two fights and, at No.9 with the WBC and No.13 with the IBF, hopeful of securing one more big opportunity before his career is over.

Manchester’s Rea is a former European light heavyweight champion, but he came unstuck and lost his belt at the hands of same-city rival Arthur in November.

He got back to winning ways with a ruthless stoppage win against Liam Cameron at Co-op Live Arena, Manchester in May and, at 28, has plenty of years ahead of him in the division. At the time of writing, he is sandwiched between Buatsi and Hutchinson in the WBA’s No. 12 spot.