Terrence Crawford "As a black race, we shouldn't have to act ignorant to sell fights"

[sugar ray lenrd]

kOOL! Go ahead Bud 'show em how to party right'. Check out the way Tommy & me acted thru-out our fight media build up to our classic super fight showdown back in '81. We didn't have to act like thugs and we both were from the streets back then. Class is something you can't buy.

[5burowz]

Ignorant is a flavor some people like.

[BLACK KNOT]

Unfortunately we live in a world where the cash me outside girl is more famous than any boxer is.

yeah for the wrong reasons. BTW I don't a clue that girl is

[BLACK KNOT]

What he says is true and people of all races will agree with it. But, the same people who say they agree and want a race to act respectable will buy music, movies, etc where those people are acting ignorant. They enjoy those stereotypes (because, let's face it, they're either funny, gritty, cool, etc), but when they talk about race, will pretend that they stand for something greater.
I'm not gonna really hammer this right now though as it's not why I come to boxing scene.

What people? be specific don't make generalizations.

[Illmatic94]

Never seen anyone tell a non black boxer to behave differently to sell tickets. Lomachenko and Golovkin are never told to talk more sht or to flash jewelry. but I remember folks saying Ward needed to mimic Mayweather to sell. smh.

Spence, Bud, Golovkin, Loma, Thurman, Hurd, Mikey, Kovalev, Usyk.. NONE of these guys can be called "boring" in the ring. they all make action fights. and all have their own unique personalities. yet we only see a few of them being told to act a certain way for attention.

[Motorcity Cobra]

If everybody agrees with Crawford that fighters shouldn't act a fool how do you explain the Andre Ward hate that started before left his promoter?

[paulf]

If you want to be a "face"/good-guy, you have to have a likeable personality and people have to like you AND like watching you fight. Shane Mosley, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Evander Holyfield are AA examples of this.

But not everyone is good at it and, more importantly, you can't force something if the public doesn't buy in.

Example: Floyd Mayweather Jr. When Floyd began his career, he tried to do the DLH/Mosley/Sugar Ray Leonard thing.... respectful smiling all-american nice guy. But it didn't stick; people weren't interested enough for FLoyd to become a draw and gain traction. His career didn't go into overdrive until he became a heel/bad guy character.

Boxers can try to play the nice guy angle all they want, but regardless of race it's a harder angle to play and be successful at.

Sergio Martinez was my favorite boxer when he was fighting, but he drove me nuts and probably missed out on opportunities by being so classy.... If he had been coming out with IG videos talking mad **** he probably would have had more opportunity come his way earlier.

[-DSG-]

For some "fans" all it takes is black skin for you to be a villain. Look at Andre Ward. God fearing family man, loyal husband and farther that has never been in trouble with the law. Fought nothing but the best fighters in and around his division yet he got bashed like he was a wife beater and a drug dealer. **** em, I say be who you want to be, keep whooping ass, and as you succeed the hate will come no matter what.

The “hate” for Andre Ward was because of the way he fought it had nothing to do with him being black!

[A.K]

If everybody agrees with Crawford that fighters shouldn't act a fool how do you explain the Andre Ward hate that started before left his promoter?

That has nothing to do with race just the fact he’s a dirty boxer that overrates himself

[-DSG-]

Never seen anyone tell a non black boxer to behave differently to sell tickets. Lomachenko and Golovkin are never told to talk more sht or to flash jewelry. but I remember folks saying Ward needed to mimic Mayweather to sell. smh.

Spence, Bud, Golovkin, Loma, Thurman, Hurd, Mikey, Kovalev, Usyk.. NONE of these guys can be called "boring" in the ring. they all make action fights. and all have their own unique personalities. yet we only see a few of them being told to act a certain way for attention.

And that was black fight fans who wanted guys like Ward and Bradley to act like Floyd.