Does Ricky Hatton have AMERICAN fans?

[kayjay]

Mainstream boxing fans now know Ricky Hatton because he has headlined several HBO shows, one against a known and respected name in boxing.

So yes, the strategy was at least a partial success, in that Ricky won all three fights and now is known to anyone who follows boxing.

There's really only one way to gain visibility at a high level, and that's to headline HBO Championship Boxing (Showtime is a possibility, but I don't think their subscription rate is even close to HBO's). Ricky has done that.


How many fighters can the casual sports fan/non-boxing fan name? Ricky isn't in THAT group, but that's too much to ask. Floyd isn't really in it either, or he's just on the edge of it. I'm talking about Oscar, Holyfield, Toney (Hopkins in this area, but that's probably just local)

[Steelhammer86]

Cool. That is good info. Your friend works Saturday nights?

The Hatton-Castillo bout had attendance of 13,000. With 10,000 of them British who flew over.

Are you a !! SiN alt, Dios? Your posts and threads suddenly became more abundant around the time he lost his posting priveleges.

[DIOS DOMINICANO]

Hatton would become very popular in North America if the sports media would give him some positive coverage. He is a world class fighter and a great guy.

I'm Canadian and Hatton is one of my two favorite fighters.

I think it's really ****** how some people in the US are always discrediting him. Why does it matter that he's British? Why not stop bashing him and appreciate him for what he is...one of the best boxers of our time!

I don't think that is the case. The American media got behind Prince Nasseem Hamed (pre-MAB), and the American fans/media supported Lennox Lewis.

I believe that the difference is that Naz came here and had a TRULY exciting fight with Kevin Kelley that galvanized the fans. And Naz had a love-him-or-hate-him persona. By contrast, Hatton was sold to the US market as an exciting fighter, and then we saw 24 rounds vs Collazo and Urango. I think people formed their opinions based on those fights.

Seriously, the second half of the Urango fight was as bad as some of John Ruiz' worst work.

Is it your opinion that Ricky Hatton is "one of the best boxers of our time"? I think RH is a good fighter. But I definitely wouldn't go as far as you have.

[THe TRiNiTY]

Cool. That is good info. Your friend works Saturday nights?

The Hatton-Castillo bout had attendance of 13,000. With 10,000 of them British who flew over.

Lol.. Yeah. He works two days, for 12 hours, then gets two dasy off. Then works three days, 12 hours.. then another two days off. So, he works every other Saturday. He's missing Taylor/Pavlik.. Marquez/Barrios.. Cotto/Mosley.. But he gets Barerra/Pacman II.. Kessler/Calzaghe.. and Mayweather/HATTON.. The big one for him..

Though, he did just miss Vazquez/Marquez II.. So, give and take.. lol.

[DIOS DOMINICANO]

Are you a !! SiN alt, Dios? Your posts and threads suddenly became more abundant around the time he lost his posting priveleges.

No. Promise.

I just decided to take a break from posting on the HBO boards for a bit.

WITHOUT INSULTING ANYONE, The guys over there are more knowledgeable, but that board is very 'corporate'. I kinda like this change-of-pace with the avatars and sigs and pics, etc. This seems like the Wild West compared to them.

On the HBO boards, you have to choose an avatar from THEIR list of HBO characters. And the HBO Admins are always deleting posts.

[kayjay]

You're trying to put a negative spin on the fact that 10,000 people flew from Manchester to Vegas to see him? C'mon Dios you're working too hard on this.

[THe TRiNiTY]

You're trying to put a negative spin on the fact that 10,000 people flew from Manchester to Vegas to see him? C'mon Dios you're working too hard on this.

But that is kind of a negative.. You think De La Hoya needs fans to fly around to see him? No. He has fans, world wide. If fans flew to watch him, by the time he gets there, the fights sold out.

[kayjay]

No. Promise.

I just decided to take a break from posting on the HBO boards for a bit.

WITHOUT INSULTING ANYONE, The guys over there are more knowledgeable, but that board is very 'corporate'. I kinda like this change-of-pace with the avatars and sigs and pics, etc. This seems like the Wild West compared to them.

On the HBO boards, you have to choose an avatar from THEIR list of HBO characters. And the HBO Admins are always deleting posts.

I don't doubt that, but you can't take the daily NSB posters as representative of this site. We have a lot of boxing writers and a few former fighters who post here. Some post occasionaly, but most of the good people don't post regularly in the open forum. Others spread into the other lounges and talk with mostly specific people

[.Mik.]

Win or lose against Mayweather, this fight will give Hatton great exposure and the fact that he's a thoroughly nice guy and a witty and articulate interview will mean that he grows on the American public very well over the course of publicising this fight. I'd imagine that many Americans will WANT him to shut Floyd up and if he does, or if he just fights bravely and comes close (which in all honesty is much more likely than PBF 'destroying him'), or if it seems to some people that he gets 'cheated', then it can do wonders for Hatton's career.

[kayjay]

But that is kind of a negative.. You think De La Hoya needs fans to fly around to see him? No. He has fans, world wide. If fans flew to watch him, by the time he gets there, the fights sold out.

That doesn't mean no one in Vegas wanted to see the fight.


I'd guess Hatton has as many fans in America as Mayweather does (that's a respectable amount, but not a lot). I'm not flaming, you know what I think of them as fighters. But people have noticed, he's headlined a bunch of shows by now and won them all.