Rank all 12 of Wales' world boxing champions in order of greatness
- Published
On Saturday, 4 June Joe Cordina will bid to become Wales' 13th world boxing champion when he challenges Kenichi Ogawa for the IBF super featherweight crown in Cardiff.
But of the dozen Welshmen who have already won world titles, who is the greatest of them all?
Where would you rate early pioneers like Percy Jones, Freddie Welsh and Jimmy Wilde against more recent fighters including multiple belt holder Joe Calzaghe?
Read about each of the champions and then use our selector below to rank the fighters from one to 12.
Don't forget to share your result!
Percy Jones: World flyweight champion, 1914
Raised in a Porth mining family, Percy Jones made his name in local boxing booths before winning his world title in his 42nd fight
Jones became the first Welshman to win a world boxing title when he took the World flyweight championship from Bill Ladbury in 1914.
After one successful defence, Jones never again made the flyweight limit, his problems with the scales meaning he lost his titles outside the ring.
A casualty of World War I, Jones died of trench fever in 1922 on Christmas Day, one day short of his 30th birthday.
Freddie Welsh: World lightweight champion, 1914-17
Freddie Welsh (L) beating fellow Welshman Jim Driscoll in Cardiff in 1910
Nicknamed the Welsh Wizard, it was in the United States of America that Pontypridd-born Welsh spent his professional career, aiming to claim the lightweight championship before receiving and taking his chance in 1914 against Willie Ritchie.
Welsh held the title successfully for three years.
Jimmy Wilde: World flyweight champion, 1916-23
Jimmy Wilde (R) against Joe Conn at Stamford Bridge, London in 1918
The 'Ghost with the hammer in his hand' went from the coal pits to the top heights of boxing, taking up the sport as a 16-year old in 1908.
In 1916 Wilde proved his status as the world's greatest flyweight by first winning the British and European titles, before beating the best the United States of America could offer.
Wilde was the top fighter in the flyweight division until he was defeated by Pancho Villa in New York in 1923, with the Tylorstown fighter retiring after a superb seven-year reign.
Howard Winstone: WBC featherweight champion, 1968
Howard Winstone knocks down Jimmy Anderson at Wembley, London in 1968
A mere 45-years after Wilde, it was Commonwealth Games gold medallist Howard Winstone who ended Wales' long wait for their next world champion.
After three unsuccessful attempts to topple champion Vincente Saldivar, Winstone finally won a world title when he beat Mitsunori Seki for the vacant WBC world featherweight title at the Royal Albert Hall.
Winstone, later awarded an MBE, was beaten by Jose Legra in the first defence of his title and retired at the age of 29.
Steve Robinson: WBO featherweight champion, 1993-95
Steve Robinson out-pointed Argentina's Domingo Damigella in 1995 to retain his title in Cardiff
Wales' Cinderella man went from working a security job at a department store to fighting for a world title at two days' notice in 1993, an opportunity that transformed Robinson's entire life.
He accepted the contest against John Davison and won on points against the odds, but Robinson proved his incredible success was no fluke as he made seven successful defences of his title.
His reign ended with a KO defeat to Naseem Hamed in Sheffield in 1995, with Robinson winning the European title in 1999, before eventually retiring in 2002.
Robbie Regan: WBO bantamweight champion, 1996
Robbie Regan (R) unsuccessfully challenged Alberto Jiminez for the WBO World Flyweight title in 1995
Regan's rise was obvious when a booming left hook secured him a KO victory to win the IBF world flyweight title in 1995, but his camp made the decision Regan should move up a weight, where he challenged champion Daniel Jimenez for the WBO world bantamweight title.
Regan won the title with a unanimous points' decision, but unfortunately the big puncher then came up against an opponent he could not beat, the fickle finger of fate.
Regan was sidelined for close to two years due to health issues stemming from glandular fever and when he attempted a comeback, he was denied the chance because he failed an MRI scan.
Barry Jones: WBO super-featherweight champion, 1997
Barry Jones (R) beat Wilson Palacio of Columbia to win the vacant WBO super featherweight title in 1997
Now recognised as one of the voices of British boxing and respected as one of the most astute pundits in the sport, Cardiff's Barry Jones won the WBO world super featherweight title in 1997.
However, like Regan, Jones' progress was curtailed by a routine brain scan, with doctors spotting an anomaly that forced a hiatus from the ring.
By the time of his return Jones had been stripped of his title and though he did receive a chance to regain it in 2000, he was defeated by champion Acelino Freitas and retired afterwards.
Joe Calzaghe: WBO super-middleweight champion, 1997-2008; IBF super-middleweight champion, 2006; WBA & WBC super-middleweight champion, 2007-8
Joe Calzaghe's 2008 win over Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas was his penultimate fight
You might have heard of this guy, truly no ordinary Joe and maybe, just maybe, Wales' greatest ever sportsman.
Calzaghe, trained by his father Enzo, is the longest-reigning super middleweight champion in history, having successfully defended his WBO title 21 times over 11 years.
Winning all of his 46 professional fights, Calzaghe moved up to light heavyweight having unified the super middleweight division in a Cardiff stadium fight against Mikkel Kessler before bowing out with wins in the United States against legendary boxers Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr.
Enzo Maccarinelli: WBO cruiserweight champion, 2006-8
Enzo Maccarinelli also won the Commonwealth light heavyweight title beating Courtney Fry in 2013
A big-hitter from Swansea, Enzo Maccarinelli took his career to another level when he joined Calzaghe in the Newbridge boxing stable run by musician-turned-trainer, Enzo Calzaghe.
The mid-noughties was a period of unprecedented success for Welsh boxing and Maccarinelli became the second world champion from the same Newbridge gym when he was named full WBO cruiserweight champion after winning an eliminator and seeing a fight with Johnny Nelson fall through.
Maccarinelli defended his title four times before losing a huge unification fight against David Haye at a sold-out O2 Arena in 2008, though he did go on to win European and British titles before being unsuccessful in a light-heavyweight world title fight against Juergen Braehmer in 2014.
Gavin Rees: WBA light-welterweight champion 2007-8
Gavin Rees' final fight was a win over Cardiff's Gary Buckland in 2014
Nicknamed 'The Rock', Gavin Rees is a former WBA light welterweight world champion who stunned the world by becoming the third 'Team Calzaghe' boxer to win a world title.
In 2007, Rees defeated Souleymane M'baye to become the WBA light welterweight champion by unanimous decision after 12 rounds, with Rees defying the odds despite fighting at a weight where he generally boxed taller, larger men.
Rees lost his world title in his first defence via a 12th round TKO loss to Andreas Kotelnik in 2008, but he found a new lease of life in his later years under former stablemate Gary Lockett, winning British and European titles before unsuccessfully challenging for the WBC world lightweight title in Atlantic City in 2013.
Nathan Cleverly: WBO light-heavyweight champion, 2011-13
Nathan Cleverly regained the WBA light heavyweight world title with victory over Juergen Braehmer in Germany
A stand-out prospect in the Calzaghe stable, Nathan Cleverly rose to prominence after the retirement of his mentor as he became a world champion in his own right.
Cleverly won British, Commonwealth and European titles before his world title opportunity arrived, with Cleverly capturing the WBO light-heavyweight title and successfully defending it until 2013, including a stand-out win over Tony Bellew.
However, Cleverly lost his title to the heavy-hitting Sergey Kovalev and despite lucrative fights (that ended with defeat) against Bellew again and Badou Jack, did not return to his previous heights before retiring in 2017 at the age of 30.
Lee Selby: IBF featherweight champion, 2015-2018
Lee Selby stopped Evgeny Gradovich of Russia in the eighth round at The O2 Arena, London
Wales' most recent world champion Lee Selby did things the hard way, going from small hall shows to world title glory with little fanfare.
At times compared to Floyd Mayweather, not because of his flashy lifestyle but due to his incredible defensive work in the ring, Selby stopped the unbeaten Evgeny Gradovich to become IBF world featherweight champion in 2015.
Selby, struggling to make weight, lost his title to home favourite Josh Warrington in a stadium super fight in 2018 and he moved up to lightweight, continuing to box at world level until his retirement in 2022.