british boxers dont shine `til there too old.

In Britain, we build records, not fighters.

Would Hatton/Calzaghe be thought any less of had they fought the elite names earlier in their career and had records like 40-4-1?

I don't think so.

You look at Lennox Lewis, 41-2-1 - had he fought over here, the loss to McCall would have ruined him for good. No big fights for at least two years, and after that no bangers full stop.

 

i don't think hatton could be accused of being slow off the blocks, his career seems to have followed the right path .

 

hatton is what 29 and he has faught Kostya, Castillo, and Floyd Mayweather, and now Malignaggi. I don't think thats too slow really.

 

naz fought for the european title when he was about 18 or 19 and won a world title when he was about 21 and basically retired when he was 28

 

I think he was too slow off the blocks. After beating Vince Phillips, he should have been straight in for Vivian Harris WBA title - easy fight, few defences then unify.

Instead it was 18 months more WBU.

To be fair, Ricky has seen the error of his ways and got in some massive fights since, but he spent much of his peak below the radar.

Joe Calzaghe is even worse!

The trouble is, in the US there are loads of fighters, and around five or six major promoters.

In the UK there are a few fighters, and around four major promoters. Therefore, when a guy gets a young prospect (Khan for instance) he protects him like **** to make a few quid, instead of matching the 10-0 prospect against the 13-0-1.

In the US, the cream generally rises to the top with the odd hypejob. Herein lies the difference - in the UK the cream also rises to the top, but as does the train of hypejobs that are brutally, and embarrassingly exposed (Khan again).

 

Naseem Hamed shined brightest at age 21 but I know what you mean regarding big fights.

When I 1st read the thread title, I thought you meant `peaked physically at an old age`

I think in some cases its better to let the fighter develop & become more well rounded before sending them over to try take on the A+ fighters but in other cases they wait too long like Naz & JC.

By the time Naz came to America he wasnt the same fighter that tore thru the 122 lb class then demolished Steve Robinson at 126, that sort of natural unorthodox talent was only going to diminish with age & Naz should have been unleashed in America at that young hungry age, the world would definitely see him as a much better fighter than he is seen as now.

Calzaghe was always a great boxer, a guy that could box & fight, had a good chin, good power, endless stamina & really fast. If anything, the Americans have seen the decline of Calzaghe as he has lost some speed, hurt his hands which affects his power & has lost some stamina, even tho his stamina is still very good.
Calzaghe lives well & is such a good fighter that he didnt come unstuck vs the good fighters when in his 30s but if he had gotten the big fights earlier then the world - particularly the Americans - would accept that this is a guy of genuine world class pedigree that could share a ring with anyone his size & hold his own in any era.

 

Promotors are too scared to lose their cash cows.

 

Is that a dig at anyone in particular?

One who lost Naz?
One who lost Hatton?
One who failed to obtain options on Haye?
One who lost Calzaghe?
One who hyped Khan up to the sky?

 

who can he mean ?

 

Well only one British promoter takes a stack load of criticism on here.......

Mr Frank Warren

What pisses me off about Warren is that he seems to just move from one cash cow to another - never giving a **** about more than one fighter at the same time.

A good promoter should look after all his fighters, not just their cashcow and/or hypejob.

 

RICKY HATTON WAS IN HIS PRIME , WAY WAY BEFORE HE FOUGHT TZSYU

HE WAS JUST MILKED SHAMElessly by warren in nothing fights with full houses.

his energy and stamina were great when he was younger.

 

true but it is more due to getting stuck on a merry go round. to which fighters will beat a pure journeyman 2 or 3 times and in some cases lose. the domestic scene is strong but you can get bogged down at british level.

notice how commonwealth champions get ranked higher in world rankings even tho most know that weaker contenders are at commonwealth level

dean francis a world level boxer who may have a dodgy shoulder but has alot of skills and a great jab. he is world ranked and defending his commonwealth belt against a guy called Gbenga. Gbenga hasnt reached double digits as a pro and has had 3 or 4 losses already. hearty guy but clearly different class, i think he wasnt even ranked top of his domestic division. khan fighting st clair even tho most knew that thaxton shoulda/coulda fought him was a similar example.



im not sure we build records to say (witter had 15 fights before he fought judah). but it's true that brit fighters have to fight domestic comp which is prettyy deep to go through. I.E. burke was fighting and beating many euro level fighters but still had a ton of losses.there is no easy route in british domestic you have to fight not world level but determined guys.

i think warren gets his guys onto the wbu title route so that he can get his man to fight fighters who are bums...but are bums with good records that no one has heard before so he can publicise other of his fighters to milk the money out of them while not making his fighters meet.




i think the best possible way of breaking out is becoming a euro level fighter like witter