in all honesty, i think it had more to do with his stance on the war more than anything else. when he first started to buck, america was all gung ho so they turned on him. once the general sentiment in america turned anti war, ali became a hero for standing up for what he believed in. it had little to do with his retirement because he was by far the most popular fighter way before he retired. you seem like a smart guy, dont fall into this victim mentality so many others here love to wallow in.
The main reason is that Floyd doesn't fight a crowd pleasing style. If he had rock hands, people would overlook his arrogance much more.
I don't care what you were raised on, are you kidding me? it's cool that you met floyd and were able to evaluate him personally, but literally 99.9 percent of people who know of him don't have that luxury. he's fully in the public eye, and that's how I, and many other people, are going to judge him. it's that simple.
I agree with that to a certain extent, but i'm from new york city, and there are several white people I know who are fans of floyd and black ones who deplore him. it's less of a race thing and more about class differences and moral issues in my opinion. literally none of te guys you mentioned are on public display as much as floyd, nor are they as polarizing. all of the people you mentioned are assholes who lack humility strictly in a sporting sense. floyd lacks humility and is an *******, at least, according to papadoc, in terms of his "persona", in more ways than strictly sports, not to mention all the out of the ring issues he has had. you're telling me that if a white boxer, hypothetically as popular as floyd, did the same thing as him, like absolutely ripping into his father and showing him zero respect, and having out of the ring issues and looming jail terms and court cases galore, white americans, black americans, all americans, wouldn't hate him? sure:yep
The hate he receives is justified and his own damn fault. He is a ignorant loud mouth *******, and if he only "acts" that way in front of the camera then again it's his damn fault. Not everyone is going to be able to interact with him behind the scenes and find out what his "real" personality is like, so you can't fault people for hating what they see him do on screen. I don't like the ******* at all. With that being said, none of that has anything to do with his skills. I may hate the *******, but I can't deny his skill.
I agree with you, that's essentially what I've said before, accept I don't hate him at all. I acknowledge that he's an ******* though.
Most of my friends that follow boxing are black or mexican. Black people love him (and Obama) to no end. Amigos cant stand him, or Obama for that matter. As far as the white ppl, they seem split on pretty much everything. Most love his skills but have grown tired of his rhetoric. all talk, little action. Frustrated that he fights once a year and has basically been fighting tune-ups for 5 years. ps. i cant wait for Cotto/May. should be a good fight. about time.
Great point. Americans loved Mike Tyson, despite him being weird. Many Americans love Hatton, Pac, Calzaghe, Cotto, etc. even when they fight americans. due to them throwing a lot of punches and knowing how to close the show. ie excitement. loved Oscar, SRL, Tyson, Holyfeild, Pavlick no love for: Bhop, Malignaggi, Ward, Bradley. good fighters. anticlimatic style. Exception to the rule: Klitschko's. they have the KO power and close the show. however, they're are still boring as hell. they have no options other than knocking out smaller, out-of-shape slobs.
Ali was hated before he took that stance on being drafted in the army.He was cocky and he didnt bow down to the establishments bull****. They tried to make him fit a stereotype and when he told them in so many words and ways to kiss his ass, they tried to break him by putting him the army where he would be subserviant. He played past that **** and fought the good fight. That earned thier respect and later thier adoration. Ali was ahead of his time.Where Ali didnt give a dam who he fought because he just loved to fight, Mayweather on the other hand is a bit more calculated in his selections and thats where the hate comes in. He dont fight when and who people think he should fight. He is misunderstood.He is the top of the line P4P best in the world. He's not weak and he's not scared. He has the mentality of a true predator and if people understood that, maybe they would see him in a different light.:bbb:bbb
it his fault he better than every one? How is he overpaid he gets paid by sells people pay to watch him?
Like I said, many of the NASCAR drivers have had numerous on track (fights in the pits, intentionally crashing each other, grade A jerk interviews, etc.) and off track (DUIs, arrests, etc. ) incidents, and it gets laughed off as 'good ole boys being good ole boys'. John Daly, professional golfer, had numerous incidents on the course (quitting tourneys, visibility intoxicated on course, etc.) and off course incidents (drunken arrests, alleged spousal abuse, gambling problems, etc.) and is STILL probably the 3rd most 'popular' American golfer behind Tiger and P. Mickelson. Again, America has no problem with cocky athletes who are azzholes (Ben Roethlisberger) both on the field/court/course/ring or off it. It's just selective with which ones get a pass and which ones get deemed 'polarizing'.
None of those guys are known worldwide as much as May is. Nobody watches Nascar except for rednecks, golf is an old man's past time (not a sport), and football is really only followed by Americans. Boxing is worldwide and Mayweather gets hate from all nationalities, but like I said before, it's his own damn fault.