Luke Campbell finds himself in a packed lightweight scene. We profile his competition
Where is 'Cool Hand' in the queue?
Monday 3 August 2015 17:50, UK
Luke Campbell - an Olympic champion unbeaten as a professional - produced the performance of his life on Saturday to outclass Hull rival Tommy Coyle... but there's plenty more competition on his doorstep.
It was cool. It was assured. It was a ruthless finish. At the age of 27, Campbell passed the first serious test of his career in style by battering Coyle - knocking his man down four times on his way to a 10th-round stoppage.
Eddie Hearn said afterwards that the crowd at the KC Lightstream Stadium could return to the same venue to see 'Cool Hand' fight for a world title next summer. Sat at ringside, Alex Arthur insisted he'd "put his house" on Campbell getting his hands on a world title.
Just 12 fights into his professional career, where does Campbell stand in arguably the UK's hottest division? We already have one world lightweight champion in Terry Flanagan and Anthony Crolla could join him later in the year. With the likes of Kevin Mitchell, Derry Mathews and Ricky Burns also queuing up, there's even been talk of a Super Six-esque all-British tournament.
Here, we profile the other light-ly lads...
Kevin Mitchell
Three world title fights - interim titles permitted - on his record but he has lost all of them.
Hailed in his youth as one of the most talented fighters the country has produced, Mitchell's natural skills saw him breeze to 31 straight victories and earn him a shot at the interim WBO lightweight crown against Michael Katsidis at his beloved Upton Park.
His problems outside the ring have been well-documented and he didn't do himself justice that night - suffering a brutal third-round stoppage defeat. In his next bid to achieve his dream, Mitchell lasted only one round longer against Burns - despite claiming in the build-up that he had enjoyed a much smoother training camp.
At the start of this year, Mitchell was looking like the real deal as he took fellow-world title challenger Daniel Estrada apart in eight rounds.
The stars seemed to be aligned on May 30, when Mitchell faced WBC king Jorge Linares at the O2 Arena. In a contender for Fight of the Year, Mitchell boxed beautifully and sank Linares to his knee in the fifth but suffered an appalling cut over his eye and was halted in the 10th having been down himself.
Rated as one of the very best yet to win a world title by many in the game, 30-year-old Mitchell will be desperate to get at least one more world title shot before he's overtaken by the chasing pack of younger men.
Ricky Burns
A tough one to judge. He's a two-weight world champion and on paper, has achieved significantly more than the rest.
The Scot suffered two defeats early on in his career - to Alex Arthur and Carl Johanneson - but learned his lessons quickly and on his first big night in September 2010, recovered from a first-round knockdown to relieve Roman Martinez of the WBO super-featherweight title.
After a trio of defences, Burns moved up to lightweight to challenge interim WBO champion Katsidis and managed to nullify the Australian to win on points - cementing his status as a lightweight world champion by outpointing Paulus Moses and then stopping Mitchell.
It all started to come apart in September 2013 when he suffered a broken jaw against Raymundo Beltran and although he bravely continued, he was highly fortunate to keep his title with a draw. There was no 'gentle' comeback fight after he had recovered either - he lost his strap to the talented Terence Crawford in March 2014.
His career looked in tatters when he suffered a split decision defeat to then-unknown Dejan Zlaticanin and after a win and a defeat up at light-welterweight, Burns returned to the lightweight division with Saturday's bizarre fifth-round stoppage win over Prince Ofotsu.
You couldn't say Burns lit too many fires with the victory and his decline may not yet be arrested, but he's a proven world-class performer at lightweight.
Terry Flanagan
The only current lightweight world champion in our midst. The first Englishman to win a world title at that weight, too.
Flanagan came to prominence two years ago when he beat Mathews and Gary Sykes to win the Prizefighter tournament in Liverpool. He continued his rise and became WBO European champion by getting past Stephen Ormond via disqualification in February.
It wasn't the way Flanagan would have wanted to become world champion. There was talk the Manchester Arena would see a repeat of Ricky Hatton's famous 2005 win over Kostya Tszyu as Flanagan prepared to face hard-hitting American Jose Zepeda for the vacant WBO belt.
Unfortunately for fight fans, the visitor injured his shoulder in a second-round clinch and was forced to retire - meaning Flanagan had achieved his dream without having the chance to prove himself the better fighter.
In the aftermath, the unbeaten 26-year-old was refreshingly down to earth and said he would shun the trappings of world champion fame and continue to drive his Volkswagen Polo. He also said he was happy for trainer Steve Maylett to have the belt, as he felt his hard work deserving of it.
A sound technical boxer, Flanagan has received both training and praise from Hatton in the past and, with whispers he will make the first defence of his crown against Mathews (while Zepeda recovers), Flanagan looks set to play a key role in the future of the division.
Anthony Crolla
Before last month's agonising WBA world title clash with Darleys Perez at the Manchester Arena, the consensus was that Crolla was a decent and honest fighter just lacking the touch of class required to succeed at the very top.
Everyone thought he had done enough to officially prove his doubters wrong - especially given two points deductions for Perez - but the judges thought otherwise and a majority draw means the 28-year-old will face the Colombian for a second time later this year.
Crolla has quickly worked his way up from relative obscurity. In 2012 a pair of defeats to Mathews and Sykes left his career looking destined to remain strictly domestic, however he regrouped and forced a thrilling rematch draw with Mathews and then won a majority decision over former world champion Gavin Rees.
Having finally secured his dream of a world title shot, Crolla was forced to cancel it after suffering a fractured skull and a broken ankle when tackling burglars near his home. His recovery was extraordinary and he put in the performance of his life when thrown straight back in the deep end against Perez.
Most in the game will be hoping Crolla can get his hands on that WBA belt this year and add another jewel to the British lightweight crown.
Derry Mathews
Arguably the dark horse of the field, Mathews has no fewer than nine defeats on his record but became the interim WBA champion when he won a unanimous decision over Tony Luis in April.
Mathews' all-action style has resulted in seven stoppage defeats over the course of his career but he seems to be boxing better than ever at the age of 31 and, interestingly, in 2013 he matched Campbell's feat of stopping Coyle in 10 rounds.
With that victory, Mathews became Commonwealth champion and successfully defended his new belt against Curtis Woodhouse via fourth-round stoppage - proving again he possesses punch power of his own. Stylistically he's not everyone's cup of tea but there's never been any doubting the Liverpudlian's heart.
Mathews took the WBA route and became mandatory challenger to the full title earlier this year - but after the governing body ordered a rematch between Crolla and Perez, reports suggest he could be the first challenger to Flanagan's title.
Although he might not be the first pick on many people's lists, Mathews' willingness to trade and dogged determination make him a serious opponent for anyone.
There's also the current British champion, Scott Cardle, to consider... Wherever the chips fall, we seem to be entering a golden era for British lightweight boxing.
