blank, let me be frank... most people are borderline ******ed. Even those that have the mental capacity to be rational choose not to be rational, and become functionally ******ed. Learn quickly and decisively who is worth listening to and who is full of ****, then put those who are full of **** on your ignore list. My ignore list is full of people who enjoy being stupid. They are happy ****ing up forums with their stupidity, and I am happy that I don't have to read their crap. You have made the first observations already that will lead you to the inevitable conclusion that my recommended course of action is the only sensible one. (You most likely already worked out that trying to debate idiots with things known as "facts" or "logic" does not work, and hoping that their irrational behaviour is an atypical abberation and they will soon become reasonable is a pointless exercise and naive - so the ignore list is the only other viable alternative.)
I'm with you. For me it has always been about a boxer's style. I always have a stylistic preference that goes beyond backgrounds.
I don't mind if someone is a fan of a certain boxer due them sharing said boxer's nationality. What I don't like is when fans don't use facts in a debate regarding that boxer whom they share their nationality with.
I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I think there is a balance. I think nationalism does bring something in terms of atmosphere and edge to a fight. It would be more like a library without hometown cheering and such. Some people take it too far and hug the balls of their fighter way too much. There is also a place for objective reasoning, as a boxing fan.
Hey, that's what make this forum and boxing fun..Think about it, if all people here have the same logic as you have, then it would be boring as hell....Having debates which eventually end up pissing each other is really fun...and the ones you mention above, Hatton, JMM, Pacquiao, (Haye, Klits, Cotto and etc) threads are usually the ones with alot of posts..why? coz people have fun in that threads...at the end of the day, its all good..
I don't care about the color or nationailty of a fighter. If they bring excitment and they bring skill to the ring they get my vote.
I third that. I'm a healthy blend of Irish-French American, born and raised in NEw England. I have a tremendous sense of national pride and I do consider myself a patriot in most regards, however a large number of my favorite fighters happen to be from other countries. That isn't to say I don't like to see the United States do well in general, but it usually has no bearing on who I do or don't like int he ring.
I've been a heavyweight fan for 20 years...it follows that most of the guys I've liked and supported and paid to watch haven't been British. I like to back British fighters but not exclusively...I can think of a few Brit boxers that have really wound me up the wrong way over the years, and I was happy when they lost.
This site has something to do with it , I never used to even consider where a fighter was from but then you come on here and listen to a section of the US fans just attack every other nationality ( espscially the europeans ) and all of a sudden you get dragged into it. It ****ing blows ( as someone already said ) the best bet is to realise a large proportion on here talk out of their hole for a large percantage of the time
I've enjoyed reading the replies to this thread and I think most everyone got what I was trying to say, those that didn't, maybe I didn't explain myself as well as I'd wished. Of course you should support the fighters of your home country, that goes without saying. Seeing 40,000 Hatton fans fly to the US to support him against Floyd WAS a beautiful thing. Seeing those same 40,000 trying to convince the world that Hatton would have won if it weren't for the the ref, ringpost, too much A/C in Vegas, etc, was a good bit less beautiful however. Because a good percentage of those fans were exclusively Hatton, or UK fighter fans, and didn't understand a lick about the sport itself. Like, Pacquiao is one of my favorites, but I have seen the dude lose. I thought he beat Marquez both times (the one KD in the rematch breaking a draw on my card) but I know Morales beat him legit. No excuses, he fought a good fight and he lost, it happens because these guys are fighters, but they aren't immortal gods. But most Klitschko fans honestly believe Wlad "beat himself" against Sanders, and was DRUGGED against Brewster. They actually go to bed believing that ****, because they've built the Klitschko's into gods in their mind, and anything resembling a defeat is not to be tolerated, something larger had to be the cause, like ninjas snuck into Wlad's room while he slept and rubbed octopus ink into his nasal cavity or something. I watched Mosely lose to Winky Wright twice, and believe it or not, I actually liked him more after he lost a few times. He gave it his all (fought a great fight but came up on the losing end in that rematch) and came up short, but losses like that can give a fighter character. He wasn't drugged, he didn't beat himself, he fought another great fighter and lost. It happens. Again, really enjoyed reading the replies in this thread, a bunch of solid discussion on hand here. I do think I'll heed Rushman's advice and start up an Ignore list for the a lot of the spam-bots on this board.