Most of your athletes are in sports that other nations don't play much or take very seriously like American Football, Basketball and (erm..cough)Baseball. I don't see why these athletes should have dominion over those in sports such as Football, Rugby, Tennis and (erm...cough)Cricket from other nations. I also have trouble trusting U.S. athletes when it comes to drugs in sport, not just the athletes but also the governing bodies who turn a blind eye to cheating just so you can see the Stars & Stripes waving in the breeze at medal ceremonies at world events, which is something I think is unforgivable.
thats one of the worst posts ever, i thought you had some levels of intelligence. So in 1700/1800's when modern boxing was taking shape americans where better at boxing, perhaps not atsch
Surely the simple questions is...which venue do most boxers dream of filling? IMO it is Madison Square Garden and possibly Las Vegas a distant second? So Hatton may carp on about City of Manchester stadium because of local sentiment (likewise Calzaghe and the Millienium Stadium). But as boxers I'm fairly sure Madison Square Garden is still the place that has a special place in their minds. The same that Wembley would for footballers (soccer) from around the world - regardless of how shite England's football team are at football. i.e how good england are at football now is irrelevant to the history and symbolism of wembley. Similarly All this talk about who has the best boxers is so freakin childish and irrelevant it's unbelievable. It doesnt make you individually a better or scarier (if that's what you want) person if someone from your country is a better fighter than someone from another country - so why get so wound up about it??? And for the record I'm English and I have absolutely no pro-american sentiment whatsover. like any country it's got a mix of some intelligent decent people with a **** load of arseholes thrown in for good measure. You know - the kind who think that basking in the reflective glory of their compatriots lives/ fortunes/ successes somewho makes them better than other people.
What aload of bollox, your entire olympic team is drugged up on roids. What world sports do the US compete in that proves that point? ....like I said, American fightters get it all thier own way, americans never have to fight in foreign countries! Yet they never get labelled protected bums like Calzaghe does, even though Calzaghe on his way up fought countless Englishmen in England and thats a more hostile atmosphere than any american crowd could ever produce.
yeah man for sure...bruno, benn, eubank, lewis to name but a few. crowds just went mental to support them...
this thread only explains that there are a lot of boxing fans who would watch boxing live in the UK. If Japan could have a fight attendance of more than a 100,000 with their local domestic fighters, would it mean that they're also a mecca of boxing? :nut
exactly - the is talk that Hatton will have a rematch against PBF at Croke Park in Ireland infront of over 100,000 - does that mean Ireland is the new mecca - no! we havent done **** for years. at the end of the day when a kid joins an amatuer club he dreams of filling out MSG. end of! http://www.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Other-sports/2008/05/23/BoxingGAA-Hatton-eyes-record-breaking-Dublin-bout/?facets/sport-space/great-britain-locale/boxing/
The USA is the mecca of boxing??? Hm! The numbers are quite impressive in Great Britain! 60,000 people who want to watch Hatton live! Amazing! An average fighter can probably earn more money in the USA and Germany than in Britain,but I very much doubt that you can find 60,000 people over there who support a pro fighter in a huge stadium paying decent bucks in order to attend such an event. Besides the German market is getting bigger and bigger.Most top fighters can earn more money there than in the USA. Even American heavies like McCline begged to get a contract with a German promoter as they cant earn as many bucks on their native soil as they could in Germany. The USA is the mecca of boxing????????? I dont know!:?
Correct answer. Boxing is a worldwide sport. Not everything has to have a 'Mecca'. In fact most major religions don't either.
Interesting thread once you cut out all the bull****. I'm a brit and wouldn't say that Uk is the mecca of boxing. Historically I would say Square Garden but in terms of activity it would have to be Las Vegas surely? The attendances in the UK for the big fights are fantastic at the moment. I believe this is down to the following factors: 1. UK boxing fans are generally nationalistic 2. UK sports fans are very tribal 3. It been a while since Lennox that we've had fighters on the world stage (although Hamed covered the gap between then and now) 4. Brits love a scrap Therefore a popular Brit fighting against a foreigner for a world title will always sell tickets in the country. I would also point out that Amir Khan sells out arena's in this country even before he turned pro when he fought Kindelen in Bolton. This I believe was because: 1. Brits love a fight 2. Khan is seen as the next big thing
The simple difference is that Americans prefer to sit at home with ribs and bud watching the fight Brits prefer to be there for te atmosphere. There is no doubt that Brits are much mor fanatical, based on my experience working fights in the UK and USA I am from NJ by the way.