INCOMPATIBLE

10 all-british matchups that unfortunately got away

1 RICKY HATTON VS. JUNIOR WITTER

Chalk and cheese, both in terms of personality and fighting style, Hatton and Witter teased British boxing fans for years only to never actually meet in the ring.

2 TYSON FURY VS. ANTHONY JOSHUA

While there is still hope these two will one day come to their senses and do the right thing, for now Fury vs. Joshua remains something of a pipe dream. It also feels as though the best time for it to happen may now have passed.

3 AMIR KHAN VS. KELL BROOK

Khan and Brook did of course finally get together in February 2022, with Brook winning via sixth-round stoppage, but that, if we’re honest, never felt like the real thing. Both were past their best by then.

4 JOE CALZAGHE VS. CARL FROCH

One of the great mythical matchups, a supermiddleweight fight between Calzaghe and Froch was never really a realistic proposition given how their careers played out, but had Calzaghe continued fighting beyond 2008, there’s no doubt Froch would have chased him even harder.

5 TYSON FURY VS. DAVID HAYE

Scheduled to take place twice, first in 2012 and then in 2013, Haye withdrew from both due to a reported injury. Worth noting, too, that Fury was not a fraction of the heavyweight he would one day become.

6 CHRIS EUBANK VS. HEROL GRAHAM

Often avoided, Graham would have liked a chance against Eubank and Nigel Benn, both of whom stole nearly all the limelight throughout the nineties.

7 JOHNNY NELSON VS. ENZO MACCARINELLI

A classic case of “one on the way out and one on the way up”, this 2006 cruiserweight fight between Nelson and Maccarinelli would have been intriguing to say the least. However, Nelson’s ageing body ultimately let him down and the fight had to be scrapped.

8 CARL FROCH VS. JAMES DEGALE

Much like when Froch found himself arriving too soon to entice Calzaghe, Degale experienced something similar when he became mandatory challenger for Froch at the tail end of Froch’s career. 9 DARREN BARKER VS. MATTHEW MACKLIN There were far too many British middleweights who avoided one another around the time of Barker and Macklin, but these two, in particular, should have settled their differences. 10 RICHARD WILLIAMS VS. WAYNE ALEXANDER After a brilliant amateur battle in 1995, Williams and Alexander should have also fought as pros, especially when both were riding high at the same time. The ultimate boxer vs. puncher fight should have happened between 2001 and 2004.