Hatton interview with Sky last night

....and we know what you mean by that....don't we? At first I was puzzled, but then I realised you're bringing race into it. I've stated before the last British boxer who was as popular as Ricky Hatton is now was Frank Bruno. Without wanting to open up a whole can of worms, our sporting heroes in the UK are no longer limited by race. AGAIN: Americans don't do that there. The boxing culture in America is not to pack 40,000 into an arena to the point where you can't tell the three guys apart. The Casino influence is a relatively recent phenomenon, and one which could be argued began the downward spiral that boxing seems to drift in and out of. Arenas and stadia used to be the aim, and some of the greatest fights in history have been in outdoor stadia. I understand the current economics of it, but the bones of it is that it isn't that Americans don't do boxing that way, it's that promoters don't do boxing that way, partly because of the high-roller money from the Casinos. And is that truly healthy for the sport? C'mon... is Hugh Grant really kicking anybody's ass? Tony Blair? Really? C'mon, is John Hader going to kick anyone's ass? George W Bush? Really? "British people can't fight" is one of the more bizarre statements you've come out with.

Not likely.

British guys can't fight. Not a lick. Haha....you envy the British spirit.

I'm not talking about at home. My gf is a huge fan that went to matches even before we hooked up. That's a non-issue. I'm talking about a Vegas weekend with the boys. Boxing, cigars, steaks, hookers, single malts, and maybe a streetfight. You wanna proper street fight then you have to mix with the hooligans...

Hold on!! You know somewhere that I can SIMULTANEOUSLY watch a fight and get a blowjob from a hooker??? Please PM me!! Your girl should do that for you. A good girlfriend will watch a fight with you, and blow you in between rounds. Or, atleast get freaky during a boring undercard.

I don't mean to disrespect you, but if you don't pay attention to the business side of the sport, you aren't really following the sport in whole. Why did every fighter used to call out Oscar? for the money. Why is every fighter calling out Floyd? For the money. Why did oscar, floyd, winky, pac, corrales, etc all change promoters/managers? money. WHY DO MOST BIG FIGHTS GET MADE OR DON'T GET MADE? MONEY. I have been to some HUGE fights, including Oscar-Tito and Tito-Vargas. I prefer the upscale environment that a high-end casino or a stadium skybox offers. I don't want to be ankle deep in beer with soccer houligans. Its hooligans but anyway... I'm just looking at the bigger picture here. I'm not disputing the money aspect of things at all. I'm just saying that for the long term health of boxing there needs to be a change in direction if only to win back the casual fan who has turned his attention to MMA/UFC or any other sport. America IS at present the place to be for a big fight but if this complacent attitude continues we will all be witness to the demise of the sport. I seriously believe that.

Sample it. A REAL fan will get the point. I watch boxing because I'm a boxing fan. If I want some whore to blow me I don't go to the boxing to achieve that aim. You you were talking atmosphere. And don't try and cop out and say because I like the casino atmosphere that I'm not a real fan. I said I'd liek both, I can have a difference in opinion and still be a REAL fan. Ever thing I might be nostalgic and appreciate the smokey (though, today they are much less smokey) closed in venue where you see even the celebrities get into it because it's such a good fight??

How do you know it will blow him away? Maybe he prefers the gambling atmosphere, with hot chicks walking around, ready to blow the right guy for some money. It sounds dumb, but different people like different things. I'd prefer the casino.. I love gambling, though I'm sure the stadium atmosphere is GREAT. No joke, I would appreciate both for different reasons. Sample it. A REAL fan will get the point. I watch boxing because I'm a boxing fan. If I want some whore to blow me I don't go to the boxing to achieve that aim.

Look this isn't an economics class. I suggest you sample the atmosphere at a casino fight and then compare it to one at a stadium...the latter will blow you away. Oh, and lets not forget that the fight at the stadium holds a much larger percentage of TRUE boxing fans, which ultimately is better for the sport in general. How do you know it will blow him away? Maybe he prefers the gambling atmosphere, with hot chicks walking around, ready to blow the right guy for some money. It sounds dumb, but different people like different things. I'd prefer the casino.. I love gambling, though I'm sure the stadium atmosphere is GREAT. No joke, I would appreciate both for different reasons.

If you stage the fight in England, you will lose domestic PPV's here in the states. Even if you stage the fight at 2am manchester time to coincide with a 9pm East Coast US time. So, you have to calculate the trade-offs between the potential UPSIDE in tickets sold, and the potential DOWNSIDE in lost PPV revenues. Food and drinks is additional revenues, but lower profit on a net margin basis. You also have COSTS associated with that. Fixed and variable costs like supplies, cleaning, service, security, etc. By contrast, having the Jones family turn on their cable box costs NOTHING. That is Pure profit. Look this isn't an economics class. I suggest you sample the atmosphere at a casino fight and then compare it to one at a stadium...the latter will blow you away. Oh, and lets not forget that the fight at the stadium holds a much larger percentage of TRUE boxing fans, which ultimately is better for the sport in general.

This will not be bigger than when Tarver KOd Roy, for shock value anyway. Although, I agree that Hatton will win this fight.

I'm actually surprised that we haven't seen MORE boxing on a smaller scale with lower-priced PPV's. For example, would some of you Americans have paid $9.95 or $14.95 to see Witter-Harris? I know that i would have. But , of course, I'm a hardcore fan. Perhaps there wouldn't be enough people to do that. Buying a low-profile fight for even $19.95 is cheaper than a night out at the movies. Not every PPV needs to be the huge event for $54.95. Very good point. A Maruqez-Juarez PPV for 10 bucks, or so.. I'd pay for, and not feel like I have the chance of being ripped off. Spend a little less on putting the fight together, with the venue, major promotion, so on and so forth, so that the PPV market can actually make a profit out of this, and it'd be pretty successful. It'd also help find out who deserves to be on PPV or not. You'd be abe to "graduate" to full-on PPVs without the feeling of "if this PPV doesn't sell for me, I'm stuck on HBO or Showtime.. You'd have a couple of chances here to impress and catch on.

Yea, $50 is way too much. Stupid PPV's are ruining boxing.

This would be a big win and on the HUGE side, in terms of upsets. But, regardless of all that, Hatton still has to be able to do that. Decent interview. I like Hatton, don't think he will win, but I like him. The tickets thing sucks, he should be able to secure around 8,000-10,000 to be fair. They'll have upwards or around 20,000 tickets available, anyway.

Fact is a bunch of elitist snobs won't enhance boxing long term. They will walk away when its not worth being seen at the event. A change of direction is imperitive and this ticket fiasco merely underlines it. I concur but as long as the live gate is not where the majority of the money comes from, than things won't change.

Fact is a bunch of elitist snobs won't enhance boxing long term. They will walk away when its not worth being seen at the event. A change of direction is imperitive and this ticket fiasco merely underlines it.

Exactly!! It is about money. HBO is in it for money. So is Floyd. So is Golden Boy Promotions. So are the casinos. Etc. Etc. ...this can't be new news to you. The SuperBowl is the same way. It is attending by corporate lackeys. Not hardcore NFL fans. Yes and its the same over here to an extent with football. There are the real fans and the so called prawn sandwich brigade - the people who come for a social event and spend money on executive boxes blah blah blah. The fact is this does not do sport, ANY sport, ANY good in the long term. If the real fans are driven out, the sport will eventually die. Boxing in America is not healthy right now. Look at the current world amateur rankings...

So apathetic American attitude to boxing means we end up with a bunch of non boxing fans attending the fight ringside just because they spend a lot of money?

DIOS DOMINICANO do you ever go to watch boxing live???

boxing is not struggling now, thats just a fact. but this fight should have been held in england, hbo would have still covered it, and there would have been more people in attendance. America is the mecca of mcdonalds, not boxing.