There can be little doubt that British boxing is in the midst of a golden age: seven world champions, seven fighters already qualified for this year’s Olympics – and soon it will have a domestic classic to add to its lustre.

David Haye takes on Enzo Maccarinelli for the undisputed world cruiserweight title at London’s O2 Arena in the early hours of Sunday morning, the first time in 15 years that two British world champions will have shared a ring.

All-British match-ups that fire the public’s imagination don’t come along very often. BBC Sport looks at six fights from the modern era that managed to do just that.

Lennox Lewis v Frank Bruno, Cardiff Arms Park, 1 October 1993

During an ill-tempered build-up, Bruno summed up the feelings of many of his compatriots when he proclaimed: “He’s not British. Nobody cares about Lennox Lewis in Britain.” Lewis called Bruno an “Uncle Tom”.

Lewis – born and raised in West Ham but an Olympic champion for his adopted Canada – had become the first Brit to win a world heavyweight crown in almost a century earlier the same year, while Bruno had previously come up short in two world title challenges.

Bruno, riding a wave of public goodwill, dominated the early rounds before being flattened by a dynamite left hook from Lewis, who retained his WBC belt. Bruno would finally claim a world title in 1995, while Lewis would go on to cement his status as a modern great.

Chris Eubank v Nigel Benn, Birmingham NEC, 18 November 1990

Benn was among the most exciting fighters in the world and a big fans’ favourite, while self-styled ‘pugilist’ Eubank considered himself an intellectual and generally got up people’s noses. Naturally, they hated one another.

Benn had lost to Michael Watson in 1989 before rebuilding his career in America and claiming the WBO middleweight crown. Eubank was largely untested at the highest level and was the underdog going into the fight.

However, after almost nine rounds of relentless savagery, Benn’s spirit was finally subdued by Eubank, who won many new admirers with his courageous display. In 1993 they fought again at super-middleweight – the last time two British world champions shared a ring – and the contest ended in a draw.

Mark Kaylor v Errol Christie, Wembley, 5 November 1985

Coventry’s Christie, a high-class amateur, seemed destined for great things in the professional ranks while West Ham’s Kaylor was a gutsy fighter who had lost a British, European and Commonwealth title challenge to Tony Sibson the previous year.

The two men had first traded punches outside a London pub, making a gloved rematch – an eliminator for the British middleweight crown – an easy sell. Christie and Kaylor almost came to blows again at the final press conference and the atmosphere on fight-night was explosive.

Both men hit the deck in the opening round and Kaylor was floored again in the third before assuming control and knocking Christie out in round eight, to the delight of a partisan Wembley crowd.

Colin Jones v Kirkland Laing, Wembley, 28 April 1981

Laing, was a boxing maverick, an extraordinary talent undermined by a less than focused mind. Jones was a big-hitting Welshman who had wrought chaos in Britain’s welterweight ranks.

Laing, who would go on to beat the great Roberto Duran in 1982 before frittering away his rare gift, was making the first defence of his British welterweight crown and it was a classic match-up – boxer v puncher – and a genuine pick ‘em fight.

For eight and a bit rounds, Laing dazzled, out-boxing and out-foxing his opponent. But Jones eventually caught up with his man, landing with a huge right that led to the fight being stopped. When the two men met again a year later, the fight, and the outcome, would be pretty much identical.

Dave ‘Boy’ Green v John H Stracey, Wembley, 29 March 1977

East-ender Stracey, who had lost his WBC welterweight crown to Mexico’s Carlos Palomino nine months before, was bidding for another crack at the big time via a world title eliminator against Chatteris’ Green.

Stracey had claimed the title with a tremendous upset of Jose Angel Napoles in 1975 and was far more experienced, while Green, a former British champion, possessed tremendous punching power.

In one of the most brutal fights ever witnessed in a British ring, Green finally wore Stracey down in the 10th round, the referee stepping in after Stracey’s left eye had completely closed.

Joe Bugner v Henry Cooper, Wembley, 16 March 1971

Cooper went into the fight as the British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight champion and, at 36, was already a British institution. Bugner was a 21-year-old upstart and, worse in some people’s eyes, born in Hungary.

Bugner had also acquired a reputation as an overly-defensive fighter, while Cooper, armed with ‘Enry’s ‘Ammer and prone to cut, had been in some classic battles down the years, including two with the great Muhammad Ali.

Bugner controlled the early stages of the fight but was pegged back by Cooper and many observers thought the older man had done enough to nick it. However, referee Harry Gibbs awarded the decision to Bugner – and Cooper’s public was outraged.

We're sure to have ignored some of your juiciest encounters - so what's the finest all-British encounter you've ever witnessed? Send us your memories.