The Runner, The Hugger & The Slapper

[.Mik.]

You address the ideas brought about by those whom truly dislike the fighters. Mayweather 'running' is a concern leveled at him by those that dislike his pure boxing style. Calzaghe being a 'slapper' is a strange thing often said by those that dislike him due to the angles he punches at. Many of his shots are not solid, but he does have decent power and stops his opponents often, so where is the problem? Finally, Hatton being a 'hugger' is a relative term. He has not clinched equal amounts in every fight. Yes, he often employs clinching for shorts bursts when inside but only he last few fights made him look so pathetic doing it - mainly because of what he was doing prior to the clinch.

I'd prefer to see things as they are - Mayweather using movement to box larger men ( it's only over the last few years people have called Floyd a runner), Calzaghe being criticized because of his 'slapping' is more of a criticism for the unorthodox way he boxes - and a complaint I think was thrown his way mainly because of his unwillingness to fight certain boxers people believe he should (i.e. Kessler), and Hatton looking less impressive recently, and thereby, making people take notice of his inside clinches.

To further refute some of your claims I think it's ridiculous and frankly, impossible to defend, calling Hatton a top 20 all time great. That is simply ludicrious. What opposition has he faced, other than Tszyu, to really say such a thing? For someone to be a highly ranked all time fighter they need to have fought multiple future hall of fame fighters - even Floyd has done that.

Finally, your observations that Floyd fans dislike Calzaghe simply for being a foreigner and Hatton for much the same - and that Hatton or Calzaghe fans hate Floyd, that trend may not be accurate. I respect and like Floyd as a boxer, I enjoy watching Calzaghe , and I feel Hatton can be an exciting fighter if he abandons any ideas of fighting at welterweight.

I find it hard to believe that you bothered to read my post for a number of reasons.

1). I agreed with everything that you said in regards to all three of them not deserving to be criticsed because of their 'boxing faults'. So no real need to 'further refute my points' is there? Because you werent 'refuting' my points...you were agreeing with them.

2). Because at no point did I ever EVER say that Ricky Hatton is a top 20 all time great.

3). I stressed at length that the fact that Calzaghe and Hatton fans dislike PBF and vice versa was a GENERALISATION formed due to the attitude of many of the posts on here.

[Technical_Skill]

Perhaps I ought to put something at the end of all my posts to indicate to everyone that I'm laughing. Thats what all the net-comedy-greats do.

You Could do that, if you wanna be a comedy great, thing is, i actually laugh alot, so its quite representive,

although if i really wanted to be funny i could make unfounded statements, then refusing to back them up using a full array of excuses.

Seems like You and Ricky Hatton have alot in Common.

lol.

[Njord777]

I find it hard to believe that you bothered to read my post for a number of reasons.

1). I agreed with everything that you said in regards to all three of them not deserving to be criticsed because of their 'boxing faults'. So no real need to 'further refute my points' is there? Because you werent 'refuting' my points...you were agreeing with them.

2). Because at no point did I ever EVER say that Ricky Hatton is a top 20 all time great.

3). I stressed at length that the fact that Calzaghe and Hatton fans dislike PBF and vice versa was a GENERALISATION formed due to the attitude of many of the posts on here.

In a thread this large it takes quite awhile to work through every post and address each point maker in turn. If I quoted your specifically, my apologies. Many of the things I refuted, and that I was doing, were things said throughout the thread. I simply bundle my thoughts up into a single post and let the owner of each opinion step up in turn. I'll go back and edit the post to make that more clear.

I can see you were a tad on the defensive. Hope that clears everything up.

[.Mik.]

I use sarcasm a lot and like to think ponder challenges set to me when I actually have the time to think about them.

lol.


Its working. I feel funnier already.

[.Mik.]

In a thread this large it takes quite awhile to work through every post and address each point maker in turn. If I quoted your specifically, my apologies. Many of the things I refuted, and that I was doing, were things said throughout the thread. I simply bundle my thoughts up into a single post and let the owner of each opinion step up in turn. I'll go back and edit the post to make that more clear.

I can see you were a tad on the defensive. Hope that clears everything up.

Its fairly common internet etiquette that if someone replies at length to a thread without directing the response to anyone, then the response is to the thread itself. I was defending the thread because they represent my opinions and if I seemed defensive it was through slight annoyance at the fact that you were saying the same thing as me for the large part, yet suggesting that you were somehow differing.

[Njord777]

Its fairly common internet etiquette that if someone replies at length to a thread without directing the response to anyone, then the response is to the thread itself. I was defending the thread because they represent my opinions and if I seemed defensive it was through slight annoyance at the fact that you were saying the same thing as me for the large part, yet suggesting that you were somehow differing.

Sorry to break internet etiquette. Many, many people here will, though, so I'd get used to it. Anyway, I can see you are an intelligent boxing fan whom also can have your coat brushed the wrong way quite easily. I'll walk on eggshells around you. I've never had a problem with anyone on this forum, for the most part, and I'll keep it that way. My thoughts obviously coincide with your own- as they do with many other people on this forum who have said similiar things. We are all in the same boat. Carry on. (For clarity, I simply mean you are easily annoyed. Nothing more.)

[.Mik.]

Not easily annoyed, just straight talking and I am happy to have the same in return. Not suggesting that you're a fool at all, but I dont suffer them easy and there are quite a few of them on this site, so the easiest thing to do is to repel them with maximum speed and efficiency (this is mostly a joke btw, before I am accused of being 'too serious' again) so that you hopefully dont have to deal with them for too long. Everyone starts out the same and the gold can shine through later.

[Technical_Skill]

Alternatively its quite clear at times that PBF is seen as the benchmark of American quality, thus he stirs up quite a bit of patriotism,

Lol, What? Benchmark of american quality? what do his skills have to do with being american? and plenty of americans on this forum dislike Floyd, so i cant see the value in this point.

So what we get is that we have 3 top 10 P4P fighters, so are all of a proven quality. Similarly they are all undefeated. They are all champions. It is arguable that none of them have faced the truly top quality (Tszyu was too old, Lacy was too green, DLH was past his best) opponents. Similarly each of them have this 'boxing flaw' that they are often criticised for.

I wouldnt put mayweather in the same bracket as these two when it comes to opposition, sure Mayweather need to fight more names, but his resume is easily better than Hatton and Calzaghe's, he fought 11 world champions and much better fighters than the other two fought on the whole.

Here is my take on it. Mayweather and Hatton both employ a spoiling tactic to neutralise the threat of their opponent.

No, Mayweather doesnt run, he fights from the outside, its not a spoliing tactic, its skills, ali did it, was he running against liston? lol

Huggin is a spoling tactic because its not fighting its not boxing, its just huggin to stop the other guy hitting you, and hatton overuses this to compensate for his lack of skill

Running and Hugging are both viewed with disparagement because they lower the entertainment quality of the fight for the audience. But at the end of the day, it makes them win. If Mayweather were to stand and trade with fighters like DLH, its not working to his skill-set, its not boxing using his strengths, he would not be unbeaten.

Ermm nope, It depends how long he can stand can stand and trade for, he stood and traded with DLH for parts of the fight, so he can do it, ive seen him do it for long periods in fights at 140, have you seen him fight?

In other words, mayweather can stand and trade, but it depends on who he is fighting, it has nothing to do with his skill set not allowing him to stand and trade.

Hatton's bulldozer style means that he leaves himself open to some big shots, had he not stayed so tight to Tszyu, landing his own shots and then hugging for a break and to stop Tszyu from throwing his best shots, then he also may not have won and may have been knocked out. So can we really criticse them for doing what they need to do to get the win? Cos as far as I'm concerned, if we do, then we have to criticse them both for it. Personally, I dont think that I'll hold it against either of them. Winning all your fights is impressive.

Winning all your fights is impressive, especially when you wins against top names, how many top names has hatton and Calzaghe fought? One or two each at best?

Now, moving on to slapping, this to me is a different case. Calzaghe is still winning all of his fights, he's still scoring plenty of knockdowns, he's still stopping the vast majority of his punches, so I cant really see why he is criticised for not punching as clean as some other fighters. Calling him a slapper just makes more fighters look bad by getting stopped by him. It doesnt take away from the quality of his fights, it doesnt take away from his performance, it doesnt stop him from winning. So what is the problem? In Calzaghe's case, it just seems to me like desperate scratching to find a chi-nk (ridiculous that such a common word is caught by the autocensor) in the armour of someone who beat the big up-and-coming American hype.

Calzaghe slaps, thats a fact, sure he wins fights doing it, nothing wrong with that, but he slaps, his hands are broken, there isnt much else he can do. Doesnt make him less of a fighter, it means he doesnt hit as hard and other boxers will be more able to come through his shots and possibly hurt him.

I agree that all of these fighters should be criticised for not taking as many big and difficult fights as they should. But thinking about it, I honestly cant see how Running, Hugging or Slapping should be held against them.

True, wouldnt put mayweather in the class of these two, they dont have much in common, mayweather has fought way better opposition than those two who have argueably only beat one or two top class fighter each.

[Njord777]

Not easily annoyed, just straight talking and I am happy to have the same in return. Not suggesting that you're a fool at all, but I dont suffer them easy and there are quite a few of them on this site, so the easiest thing to do is to repel them with maximum speed and efficiency (this is mostly a joke btw, before I am accused of being 'too serious' again) so that you hopefully dont have to deal with them for too long. Everyone starts out the same and the gold can shine through later.

If boxing was a sport full of intelligence it would die. We need brainless hispanic boxing fans jumping on every Cotto and Margarito's (depending on nationality) ass. We need the inherently racist white men whom get excited over the prospect of a great white hope despite his obvious flaws. We need people to think with their gut, their passion- rather than their brain. If all boxing fans were intelligent we would never buy the hype of a 24/7 show, or believe half the things we end up believing.

Then again, I would never confuse a lack of intelligence with a blind patriotism or ethnic pride. Many people on here seem ****** when stubbornly defending their fighter whom they love due to one of these two reasons. In actuality, catch them posting on an unrelated thread and you'll see that they aren't idiots- just "nuthuggers" due to their loyalties.

In closing, do not scare away idiots. Many of us enjoy toying with them. Likewise, they pump money into the sport. Also- never assume a Mexican or Puerto Rican is dumb just because their arguement is. It's temporary insanity.

(This post is not intended to be taken as anything but a humorous take on "dumb posters". Thanks.)

[hugh grant]

My take is you do what you got to do within the rules of the sport. God made us with different strengths so you use your own strengths to be successful. Hatton uses his strengths and so is p4p rated and unbeaten. Hatton might not be unbeaten if he slapped like Joe or ran like PBF. And PBF probably couldnt stand there and hug and be unbeaten.
Only fans of PBF accuse Hatton of wrestling and hugging, and probably Hatton fans acuse PBF of running.