My thoughts about british "super star" boxers and americans in general

Ricky Hatton - Because of the shambles happening within his team, losing Billy Graham and now Kerry Kayes, I'm starting to wonder, is Ricky Hatton coming to an end? One loss and it seems everyone is blaming each other, mainly Ray Hatton. I will be the first to say, Ricky Hatton is my idol, but I believe he was slightly over-hyped by the british. He still though is an elite fighter but near the bottom of elite fighters. However is Hattons time come to an end? He should beat Magic Man easily, don't forget that Hatton had no trouble keeping up with Mayweather... It was Mayweathers inside/defence that cause problems, will Magic Man cause the same problems? Doubt it. If Ricky costs me 30,000 points because he can't sort his life out, then I'll hire a real hitman haha. Just kidding but as sad as it makes me to say, he really is on the decline but is still IMO the no 1 LWW into taken down, and it won't be Paulie, Manny or Amir to do so. Joe Calzaghe- Possibly the best fighter to come out of GB. Simply because of his style, trainer and love for the sport. However after 10 years of fighting bums, hes using his win against Jeff Lacy (which got him in the spotlight) to fight hasbeens and maybes. Don't get me wrong, people will always discredit his wins, Jeff at the time would destroy Joe? But now he was a bum and always was a bum. Bernard Hopkins would annhilate him, but now hes just an old man hasbeen... Joe imo is not no 2 lb for lb material, he to me is ranked 5 - 10. He still has a lot to prove into he retires, retiring undefeated is not as important as enchacing your legacy IMO. His slapping style gets criticised a lot, but it can't be all that bad to win 45 fights against some top competition. Like I said, people will always discredit his wins: "Fight Jeff Lacy hes the new Mike Tyson", Joe does so "WTF Jeff was an over-rated bum". Then the same for Mikkel kessler being an over-rated euro bum and Hopkins being an old man. Hopefully he beats Pavlik to enchance his legacy, but people will prob have a reason to discredit that. Amir Khan- This guy winds me up. I'll be honest, Amir Khan got me into boxing when I was casual, however now I'm a hardcore boxer I consider Amir Khan a joke. He hasn;t even won a british title, and hes going PPV. Frank Warren knows Amir Khan is over-hyped and is using hype to call out casual boxing fans like me to pay to view Amir. He has many flaws, like his chin and defence yet he calls out the elite fighters, insulting them. Also he wants to improve himself yet he calls out an amateur trainer. Don't get me wrong, Rubio is a fantasic trainer at international... Amateur Level. Rubio will train Amir like an amateur, amateur and pro is a massive difference. He simply called Rubio because Rubio was the only trainer willing to go to england. (why not after he lost his no 1 prize fighter Gamboa?) David Haye - Hes got a mouth, but can he walk the talk? Hes a great fighter who I haven't studied very much so I'm not going to talk much. All I will say is, jumping up weights then calling out the no 1 fighter is risky. If he loses then he will be labelled another british bum. America complain that brits never leave england, but why on earth should we? They don't leave America. America is NOT the country of boxing it once was. Almost every country out-talents them. the fact GB is a small country with 4? world champions while America have 1 bronze medal with a squad of 12 olympians proves my point otherwise.. America should have to come to england to prove themself! Please don't give me red k, as I am flaming my own countrys boxers rather than just over-hyping them.

Comments (20)

You've kind of overated him and underated him almost in the same breath. Joe is the best we have of the current crop and perhaps the modern era (close with Lewis and Hamed) but there have been plenty better. Not worth top 5 p4p? 10 years a champion, cleaned out his division and linear champion at 2 weights? And all at 36. In my view that's the best out there other than Pac Man so 2 is the correct spot. Joe was in a time he had a relatively poor division and besides that 10 years of defending his title against who exactly? A few nice names but mainly bums.

17y ago

box2box

Joe Calzaghe- Possibly the best fighter to come out of GB. Simply because of his style, trainer and love for the sport. However after 10 years of fighting bums, hes using his win against Jeff Lacy (which got him in the spotlight) to fight hasbeens and maybes. Don't get me wrong, people will always discredit his wins, Jeff at the time would destroy Joe? But now he was a bum and always was a bum. Bernard Hopkins would annhilate him, but now hes just an old man hasbeen... Joe imo is not no 2 lb for lb material, he to me is ranked 5 - 10. He still has a lot to prove into he retires, retiring undefeated is not as important as enchacing your legacy IMO. His slapping style gets criticised a lot, but it can't be all that bad to win 45 fights against some top competition. Like I said, people will always discredit his wins: "Fight Jeff Lacy hes the new Mike Tyson", Joe does so "WTF Jeff was an over-rated bum". Then the same for Mikkel kessler being an over-rated euro bum and Hopkins being an old man. Hopefully he beats Pavlik to enchance his legacy, but people will prob have a reason to discredit that. . You've kind of overated him and underated him almost in the same breath. Joe is the best we have of the current crop and perhaps the modern era (close with Lewis and Hamed) but there have been plenty better. Not worth top 5 p4p? 10 years a champion, cleaned out his division and linear champion at 2 weights? And all at 36. In my view that's the best out there other than Pac Man so 2 is the correct spot.

17y ago

Oriachim

Joe Calzaghe was in the spotlight after his Jeff Lacy fight in Wales, Hatton had 55,000 fans in GB. also whats the obsession with ricky hatton dios? two threads and a dozen posts in this thread on him. also you've been told what 6 times 7 times? the reasons for my posts, IT WAS NOT ABOUT MAYWEATHER BUT HOW PAULIE WOULD REACT TO IT! now get the hell out my thread, you clown.

17y ago

abadger

Why do Americans have this strange assumption that the US is the magical land of plenty where fighters always make more money no matter what the circumstances? It's nonsense. You make most money where your fans are, which for most of your career is going to be where you live. Hatton made more money in the UK then he would have had he been fighting in the States his whole career. Calzaghe did not go to the States precisely because he could make more money defending in the UK. Kessler chose to win the WBA belt over Sartison rather than fight Miranda because a belt to defend guaranteed him paydays in Denmark. America has the best market if you are a star there, which is very hard to achieve for Europeans and becoming one would require the fighter not to build a fanbase at home.

17y ago

KJB

I am pointing out the idiocy of saying that a fighter can "keep up" with another when you are trying to say that he can "get close even without landing punches". What is the BOXING VALUE of being close to a fighter if you can't land punches? Tell us. Ricky had the foot work and foot speed to keep up with Floyd. When Floyd tried to use his legs to get position on Hatton, he was unable to do so. Watch the feet, Hatton "kept up with him". Like Margarito almost caught up to Cotto all night. There was BOXING VALUE to what he said.:lurk:

17y ago

Swizzy

are you retarded or something ? why do you think i compared Cotto fighting in Rico and Mexicans fighting in Mexico to British fighters fighting in Britain did i even mention America its obvious you can make more cash in America but you are saying Cotto and Vasquez etc came because of the challenge or to prove themselves when in reallity they cant make as much money fighting in Mexico and Rico as British fighters can fighting in Britain and that is more accurate reason to why they go to the States rather than stay and fight in Rico and Mexico but Calzaghe would still make more money in the states regardless of if he is making enough money in the UK than marg or cotto are in their respective countries. point is, everyone loves money, and if calzgahe knew that there wouldn't be any risk in going to the states for the extra cash, he would have done it along time ago.

17y ago

MJ406

Some fighters have big markets overseas. They don't need to leave where the money is. They have the same rationale Americans have. And we no longer are the biggest boxing market. A HW makes a fortune in Germany, as does Abraham. Hatton made a fortune in England. He didn't need to come here, though he did in fact come. agreed, the better Heavy's aren't in the US I know that much. and Abraham wouldn't sell in the US (he'd need to build his name up) so that's why he stays in Germany. very true on Hatton, but look at the size of those arena's they can pack in Europe ... didn't 55,000 come to his last fight? I know that's got to significantly help Hatton's revenue .. as the largest Vegas Venue from what i know is 20,000 in capacity. if the US isn't the biggest boxing market then who is? I'd like to know.

17y ago

Dynamite_Kid

so you're saying that calzaghe would make more money in the UK than he would in the States? how much money did Calz make in the hopkins fight and how much did he make in his highest money fight in the UK? are you retarded or something ? why do you think i compared Cotto fighting in Rico and Mexicans fighting in Mexico to British fighters fighting in Britain did i even mention America its obvious you can make more cash in America but you are saying Cotto and Vasquez etc came because of the challenge or to prove themselves when in reallity they cant make as much money fighting in Mexico and Rico as British fighters can fighting in Britain and that is more accurate reason to why they go to the States rather than stay and fight in Rico and Mexico

17y ago

Swizzy

Calzaghe was getting his pockets pinched by Frank Warren. Warren deserves that extra money for feeding Calzaghe bums and giving him that unbeaten record.

17y ago

Chunk

17y ago

Swizzy

im not saying its right and i dont know for a fact but id hazzard a guess that British fighters can make more money fighting in Britain than Cotto can make in Puerto Rico same probably applies to the Mexican fighters so you're saying that calzaghe would make more money in the UK than he would in the States? how much money did Calz make in the hopkins fight and how much did he make in his highest money fight in the UK?

17y ago

Dynamite_Kid

ok, why do brits make the same weak argument time and again? America is where ALL the great fighters from ALL the countries go to fight and make a name for themselves not just americans. Pacquiao, JMM, Vazquez, Margarito, mijares, raf marquez, cotto are all non-americans who made a name for themselvs fighting in america and if they had stayed in their own countries, they wouldn't have nearly the exposure nor the competition level that they have fighting in the states whether their opponents are american or not. America is where you go to make the big money and where you make your legacy fighting the toughest competition in the world. If Calzaghe had left the UK sooner for the states about 8years ago, he would have been able to get fights with Jones and Hopkins but he was a nobody fighting in the UK and no one(not the boxers nor the fans) took him seriously. This is just fact and I'm a Canadian so I have no personal interest in where boxing's hub should be. im not saying its right and i dont know for a fact but id hazzard a guess that British fighters can make more money fighting in Britain than Cotto can make in Puerto Rico same probably applies to the Mexican fighters

17y ago

Swizzy

America complain that brits never leave england, but why on earth should we? They don't leave America. America is NOT the country of boxing it once was. Almost every country out-talents them. the fact GB is a small country with 4? world champions while America have 1 bronze medal with a squad of 12 olympians proves my point otherwise.. America should have to come to england to prove themself! Please don't give me red k, as I am flaming my own countrys boxers rather than just over-hyping them. ok, why do brits make the same weak argument time and again? America is where ALL the great fighters from ALL the countries go to fight and make a name for themselves not just americans. Pacquiao, JMM, Vazquez, Margarito, mijares, raf marquez, cotto are all non-americans who made a name for themselvs fighting in america and if they had stayed in their own countries, they wouldn't have nearly the exposure nor the competition level that they have fighting in the states whether their opponents are american or not. America is where you go to make the big money and where you make your legacy fighting the toughest competition in the world. If Calzaghe had left the UK sooner for the states about 8years ago, he would have been able to get fights with Jones and Hopkins but he was a nobody fighting in the UK and no one(not the boxers nor the fans) took him seriously. This is just fact and I'm a Canadian so I have no personal interest in where boxing's hub should be.

17y ago

Chunk

It is called double standards. Double standards and boxing go hand in hand.

17y ago

Chunk

It's been done to death. Please troll elsewhere. One day you guys will stop being sensitive about this issue and move on. I hope. I wouldn't say am sensitive about the issue, it's a fair question that always seems to be swept under the carpet.

17y ago

kayjay

Well in the United States at least Las Vegas is the dream big fight destination. it has so many famous and popular venues (casino's) however I'll agree with you as the double standard for American's not going abroad is used to criticize foreign fighters for staying overseas. mighta worded that wrong, but American's get criticized for not going abroad .. they have Vegas to fall back on yet International's get criticized for not going abroad, what do they have to fall back on? Some fighters have big markets overseas. They don't need to leave where the money is. They have the same rationale Americans have. And we no longer are the biggest boxing market. A HW makes a fortune in Germany, as does Abraham. Hatton made a fortune in England. He didn't need to come here, though he did in fact come.

17y ago

MJ406

Why shouldn't top yank fighters come here to fight our best? It's a fair question. Winky Wright did it. Well in the United States at least Las Vegas is the dream big fight destination. it has so many famous and popular venues (casino's) however I'll agree with you as the double standard for American's not going abroad is used to criticize foreign fighters for staying overseas. mighta worded that wrong, but American's get criticized for not going abroad .. they have Vegas to fall back on yet International's get criticized for not going abroad, what do they have to fall back on?

17y ago

Chunk

Why shouldn't top yank fighters come here to fight our best? It's a fair question. Winky Wright did it.

17y ago

Oriachim

The main irony is the fact most yanks moan at us for not leaving gb.

17y ago

number6

Shame that a lot of top yank fighters don't come here to fight our best. I reckon a yank fighter would get more recognition imo to fight elsewhere rather then the states, hence why i got a lot of respect for Winky Wright who fought over here a few times. Not a lot of others did. I remember Winky coming over here aswell, he took out our best fighters at the weight. He has never been affraid to travel unlike many Americans.

17y ago