hopkins became a legend in an ocean. calzaghe became a legend in a swimming pool.

[SkilledB]

Joe Calzaghe had fought people who were olympic champions and world champions as well so i dunno what your getting at here. This is my point, a US fighter gets credit for fighting someone people in the US have heard of but people around the world don't know and its OK cause hes a former world champ or something. But then a UK fighter fights someone who is a former champ but the US havn't heard of and say hes a bum cause we ain't hearda him.

This sums it up i think...

I don't care about where a fighter comes from, its at the back of my mind. Sure if a fighter i like is from UK i cheer for him to do us proud but at the same time i wouldn't care if they were from the US, India or Russia etc.

well yes he may be a world champion, but he may not be an amazing fighter to get worldwide exposure, there are many champions in america that get next to no exposure and they are in their country, plus you don't have to be an amazing fighter to be in the olympics, and i don't trust the scoring after RRj's bout where he got stiffed.

[SkilledB]

OK well is your going on who has the most world titles then Europe is the mecca of boxing!


USA: 17 World titles.
Europe 20 (21 including Russia, as I believe Russia should not be included as it is unpopular and such a vast population.)


With the European countires that currently have a world champion the population total is...(UK, Hungary, Ukraine, Germany, Uzbekistan, Romania, France) the population total is approx. 105+10+64+21+26+82)

=308 million... A margine higher then USA's population of 303 million... But 3 more world titles (4 more including Russia).

given you just listed of multiple countries and i was talking about 2(USA and The UK)

[thegreatone1]

Hopkin fans belittle Calzaghe yet if Hopkins wins they would proclaim the second coming of christ.

[Mizzou]

the u.s. being the mecca of boxing doesn't mean they have more champions.

the real mecca is where all the ******s have to make a pilgrimage to. not all ******s live in mecca do they?

for hatton's biggest fight he had to come to the u.s.
calzaghe's biggest fight is gonna happen in the u.s.
the brothers klitschko's who made millions in germany still both came to the u.s.
hamed came to the u.s. to fight at the end of his career for more money.
lewis was jamaican/canadian/british but he claimed to be a brit but after starting his career there fought primarily in the u.s. once he became a champion.

sounds like the united states is STILL the mecca of boxing.

Good post. This, like many other threads, is just another Limey stroke off. It's all about dollars especially with prizefighters. Why the hell do you think PBF is saying he's gonna go to Wembley and fight Hatton?? To prove anything to anyone?? I think about thirty million plus is more like it.

[FRKO]

I am tired of seeing US fans claim that US boxers are head and shoulders above all the rest of the world's fighters.

The reality of most elite US fighters career is this: They spend their prime years holding and acquiring titles, usually against opposition not as good as themselves, but sometimes acquiring one or two good wins along the way. Towards the end of this period they start to be acclaimed as legends. Then they start fighting the other 'legends' in and around their weight, and their results become mixed. When faced with fighters of equal or similar ability they start to win some, lose some. Since the US fans and media have long since agreed that these fighters are 'legends', their losses have absolutely no impact on their legacy whatsoever, at least in the eyes of US fans, and fighters like Winky, Hopkins, Jones, Trinidad etc remain acclaimed as essentially unbeatable monsters well into their thirties and past their primes. This even happens to average fighters like Tarver.

These fighters never leave America, which consistently puts them at an advantage over any foreign champions who visit, but means they are never tested in similar circumstances to the foreign fighters they beat. This is justified by saying that the US is the "mecca of boxing", but really this is nothing more than US hubris. The United States is just another country, a very large one its true, but still just a country. Try telling a Cuban or Mexican that the US is the mecca of boxing. It is only the mecca of boxing for US fighters and fans.

Meanwhile, any foreign champion, no matter how impressive his record, is derided as protected. If he comes to the US and loses he is instantly a bum. Look at what people say about Hatton. US fans choose to focus intently on any loss suffered by foreign fighters as undeniable eveidence of their mediocrity, bumness and crow that they have been exposed. Meanwhile they look right on past the gaps in the records of their own fighters.

I am not trying to stir anything up here, there are lots of US fight fans with balanced views, just as fans of foreign fighters like me can sometimes be too generous to our own favourites. I am merely responding to the thread starter's claims about oceans and swimming pools, which are symptomatic of this "better than all the rest" perception you sometimes see from US fans and especially on these boards.

My man abadger is ON POINT, as always.

[mr.anthrax]

I am tired of seeing US fans claim that US boxers are head and shoulders above all the rest of the world's fighters.

The reality of most elite US fighters career is this: They spend their prime years holding and acquiring titles, usually against opposition not as good as themselves, but sometimes acquiring one or two good wins along the way. Towards the end of this period they start to be acclaimed as legends. Then they start fighting the other 'legends' in and around their weight, and their results become mixed. When faced with fighters of equal or similar ability they start to win some, lose some. Since the US fans and media have long since agreed that these fighters are 'legends', their losses have absolutely no impact on their legacy whatsoever, at least in the eyes of US fans, and fighters like Winky, Hopkins, Jones, Trinidad etc remain acclaimed as essentially unbeatable monsters well into their thirties and past their primes. This even happens to average fighters like Tarver.

These fighters never leave America, which consistently puts them at an advantage over any foreign champions who visit, but means they are never tested in similar circumstances to the foreign fighters they beat. This is justified by saying that the US is the "mecca of boxing", but really this is nothing more than US hubris. The United States is just another country, a very large one its true, but still just a country. Try telling a Cuban or Mexican that the US is the mecca of boxing. It is only the mecca of boxing for US fighters and fans.

Meanwhile, any foreign champion, no matter how impressive his record, is derided as protected. If he comes to the US and loses he is instantly a bum. Look at what people say about Hatton. US fans choose to focus intently on any loss suffered by foreign fighters as undeniable eveidence of their mediocrity, bumness and crow that they have been exposed. Meanwhile they look right on past the gaps in the records of their own fighters.

I am not trying to stir anything up here, there are lots of US fight fans with balanced views, just as fans of foreign fighters like me can sometimes be too generous to our own favourites. I am merely responding to the thread starter's claims about oceans and swimming pools, which are symptomatic of this "better than all the rest" perception you sometimes see from US fans and especially on these boards.

^^^^^This is a really fantastic post! I completely agree with how you broke it down, you are just telling the truth. It really bothers me that so many of my fellow Americans are blinded by hubris and Jingoism.

Thanks again for the great post!

[RodBarker]

gd statement owned.. nuff said thread closed usa isnt the mecca of boxing imo.

Where do think the biggest fights happen , where do they happen more frequently ? it should be as plain as the nose on your face ,,, the USA is the mecca of world boxing whether you acknowledge it or not its a fact and provable by the numbers over history , all the fighters know it , even the UK fighters know it ,, how come the UK fans dont ,,,, the competition level is the highest in the world in the US thats why the melting pot produces the best fighters in the history of the game , you cant go on populations as the only reason , its culture genetics popularity of boxing , but most of all its the level of competition , its just harder to get to the top in the USA and stay there .