Why did British fans love Hatton more than Calzaghe know Hatton was just like one of them but Joe won all the time he had more skills and he was a better fighter. I feel fans should have flocked to America to see Joe. Just like Ricky Hatton. Never really got why they didnt support joe.
Britain = England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales Calzaghe = Welsh Hatton = English English fans like Hatton more, Welsh fans like Calzaghe more. As a rule there is a dislike/rivalry between England, Scotland & Wales It doesn't always translate into dislike of athletes but they won't get as much love, most Scottish people I know downright deteste being called British.
:deal Noway a, slightly dour, Welshman trumps a down to earth witty northern Englishman. Its a numbers game as much as anything.
Hatton fought the best and went out on his shield. No excuses. Also Calzaghe fans would have been waiting more than a decade to see Joe truly test himself. Shame because after the Lacy fight everyome sort of realised what a talent they had the whole time.
hatton was someone you could go down the pub with and get pissed and fame didnt change who he was. his fights were always exciting and he blazed through opponents for fun, this gave him a massive following amongst working class fans like someone else stated, Wales and England have a slight rivalry and Wales has far less people and so far less boxing fans compared to England. At a time when we had no real talent in the lighter weights, Hatton filled a gap. he went out to fight the best and the only times he lost was against the 2 best fighters of this decade Hatton was a great fighter. Calzaghe was great but wasnt as exciting!
Both fought the best names they could at the time. Mindless aggression from a beer-swilling wild man who had the opportunity to fight more world-famous boxers is more attractive to casual fans. After Eubank and before Lacy, the super middleweight division wasn't as hot as the light welters. Calzaghe was technical and hurt his hands after a while so he didn't get many knockouts in the second half of his career. He was always respected but there weren't many big names for him to beat, not a whole lot for the fans to get excited about.
Hatton had a more pleasing style and a more charming, down to earth personality, which the British public tends to warm to more. Combine that with some clever promotion linking in a big local fan base, connected to Man city football club, resulted in the huge following he achieved. Calzaghe came from a tiny town so never had access to a big local following that could give his fights the atmosphere and excitement of a Hatton fight.
Im a Welshman (and of course a huge Calzaghe fan) but I only went overseas to watch one of our boxers - Hatton (vs Pacquiao 2009) To me there just seemed to be something more appealling and party like about going 'on tour' with the Hatton army (even though we gave Ricky very little chance of winning) All the above posts are pretty much spot on
There's a few simple reasons, as some other have stated - Hatton's personality, nationality and level of competition. Anyone who thinks Hatton had a more pleasing style than Calzaghe is way off though IMO. I'd take someone who can land 100's of clean punches on his opponents (albeit some cuffing/slapping) over holding and mauling any day. I think at the end of their careers, Calzaghe has been looked back upon as the better fighter, he just took way too long to prove it.
The guys are right about the numbers game,but for me personally,coming from Scotland,the reason I resented Joe was because he had the talent to take on anyone,but wasted a large part of his reign. And before we get the customary boxrec figures,we keep hearing Joe tried to fight everyone,but Ricky knew that what he needed to do was give up the purse for one big fight to get himself out there.That's what really endeared him to me,because I always felt Ricky was very,very limited.He ended up the guy everyone from 135-147 wanted to fight because he was THE money fight at the time.
Hatton appealed to the average, casual boxing fan who prefer football. Of which their far, far more than the fanatic, more intelligent boxing fan which Calzaghe appealed to. Hatton basically was a binge drinking, football/boxing fan who was good at boxing.
Ricky Hatton I really believed won over a **** load with his love of football and the way he was so into City. Football is still England and most of the World's #1 sport, the way Hatton was so connected was pretty big This is huge because MAN CITY was not a BIG CLUB BACK THEN. MAN CITY WAS THE UNDERDOG working class club that represented Hatton. The fact that Hatton loved City over United speak volumes about his own background and believes. Sadly City is now United... lol