That really is a superb post. I liked Ricky as a bloke but was never under any illusion that he was any great shakes as a fighter. Although to give people an idea of how Hatton Fever could grip the most rational fan,I never thought for a minute Ricky would get near Floyd...until fight night when I walked past a bookies with a big sign on the window saying:Ricky Hatton to win;3/1.I fell into some weird catatonic state and only came to as the girl was handing me my slip for a £200 straight win.atsch Even before it reached my hand I knew I'd committed a blunder of epic proportions.
Britain did produce Lennox Lewis who is arguably one of the top 5-10 heavyweights of all time at least. Other than that most of there top guys are really just hyped up mid level talent. Than again so are most fighters regardless of nationality. -yes a canadian borne citizen of britain counts
this is generally TRUE in the last 25 years, but in bygone days it wasn't! Britain ruled for Flyweights and little guys in general, and the few bigmen they had were for real, British champs and contenders! But yes today it's sickning to listen too, and I am British!
LMAO, Lacy, Williams, Dawson, Alexander, Judah, Kirkland, Taylor, Pavlik... if they were Eastern Europeans no one would give a **** about them but most of them have been top 10 p4p fighters in the Ring.
"they" as in the media ? just because the media hype them doesn't mean the public think they are world beaters. But yea there's idiotic deluded rose tinted patriotic fans out there just look at all the deluded welsh Calzaghe fan boys but the vast majority don't believe the hype.
Wonder how many fans have ever heard of Howard Winstone...Or Walter McGowan...Or remember Ken Buchanan as anything more than the guy Roberto Duran punched in the nuts to win the world title. The reason why I bring this is is that plenty of Brits have been underrated in the past, or not given their due as quality fighters until a criminally long time after they retire. And even with the penchant of some fans to hype certain fighters from their homeland as being the next great thing, it's safe to say that other fighters from the same place will all but forgotten- even as they develop into potentially world class boxers. (case in point...Ricky Burns)
I agree with you but the people who do that are mainly casual fans. I have watched boxing for donkey's years and grew up with hype jobs, just to have my dreams shattered as a child, I quickly realized to judge what my eyes saw and detect the BS, and adjust my expectations accordingly. I think the problem is we don't produce the volume of good fighters compared to the USA, so nearly any decent looking prospect is hyped up as Mega Ali/Tyson/Mothra/Yeti II.
this IS extremely true of past British fighters and some good Euro lads too! But yes you've got to fight for them to overcome the American general dominance. But a percentage of them from other places were just as good or better in some cases, of course they were, it should goe without saying.
That would mean something if anyone ever gave a **** about Lacy in the US. No one did and no one does. The only reason that Lacy was a favorite against Calzaghe is that Calzaghe was rightly held in low regard because of his amateurish style and dog **** resume.