Confession Time: Hater or Hugger?

For me, it's like this:

Legitimate reasons to like someone:

1. Will always come prepared and focussed to the ring
2. Will give his all to perform as well as possible and try to win on the night
3. Will fight fairly, with pride in the ring
4. Will not just chase good risk/reward fights, whether against better or worse opposition than himself but will be prepared to take on bad risk/reward fights to prove himself
5. Will not demand to fight top fighters without having proved himself against contenders/Top 10 fighters first, or act as if he is better than proven contenders just because he's still unbeaten and hyped
6. Once at the top of his game, will aim to fight the best around/ the hardest match-ups, and will be prepared to travel and to take a lower purse to do so, daring to be great
7. Will never duck a mandatory challenger or keep the belt captive by fighting poor voluntary defences
8. Will not be afraid of restarting from lower down on the ladder once he loses but expect to have to prove himself again against serious, dangerous, live opposition
9. Will not hide behind his promoter/TV network, etc. and/or expect to be given an easy ride/unfair advantage because of his popularity/promoter's power etc.
10. Will be honest about his own qualities and limitations and respectful of his opposition and rivals and generally honest, acting in good faith at all times.


...those who have followed closely the careers of the four fighters mentioned, who are capable of being honest with themselves and of good faith, will know on this basis how much I like or dislike these fighters...

 

Haye: Like him. Reasonably exciting to watch, personable and seems to want the big fights

Hatton. Like him. Has taken on a high standard of opponent since ditching Warren. Seems a genuinely nice bloke and far from arrogant (some people need to look up the defination of this word IMHO)

Froch: Not arsed. He is growing on me since he toned down the ludicrous "Calzaghe is ducking me" line of a couple of years ago and got on with his own career (although he's slipped back into bad habits recently)

Khan: Not arsed. He's in exciting fights but his chin is going to let him down sooner rather than later. Again I don't see the arrogance that upsets some people just a confident kid who maybe beleives too much of the hype that he hears around him.

EDIT: Just to clarify, "not arsed" still means I'd want them to win over 99% of foriegn oppostion just that I wouldn't be too arsed if they lost.

 

:nut

 

i have closely followed the careers on all of these fighters;;
i was at wembley to witness hayes only loss to the experienced thompson,,
i was present at most of froch's early fights in nottingham and walked through the middle of the mini-riot at the dodson fight (thnx to the scousers!),i havn't had the pleasure of seeing hatton or khan live but,,here go's...


khan
a dedicated hard working boxer,,prepared to learn quickly what is needed to be a champion.fortunately freddie roach is the perfect teacher!.i blame warren for mostly creating the "haters" phenomenon which surrounds khan,,he is an expert on over-marketing (obviously because he is a business-man,whom boxing is his fuel).a good kid.

hatton
i can see recently how easy it is to alienate fans,,just become successfull!!,,us brits love adversity and despise success.look how easily the calzaghe critics still can't accept how dominant and successfull jo has been,,,even retiring undefeated and a champion at two weights can't sway them!!--ricky is a great fighter with a massive heart.

haye
i respect haye greatly over all of the others,immensely talented and a good business brain,,who lives and breathes boxing.i like the way that him and adam have set up training camps and are taking back some control of a sport that needs it ,bringing it into this century.bouncing back from the loss to great effect,never avoiding anyone ,perhaps too much sometimes? (vlad and vitali!).breath of fresh air,,much needed.

froch
a hard man to like instantly,,and he makes sure of that (a touch of the degale about him!).but he recognises he is not there to be your best mate,,he is there to beat you up!.i have been at many of his fights ,and he gets the job done,,,i hope he learns to hold that left hand up though!!,,a more savvy opponent will see his chin everytime.most exciting fighter to watch for a long time though,always guarenteed a good scrap!

i find it hard to hate any fighter when they step into that ring--nxt time you are hating one ask yourself this; "could you do it??"

 

how anyone can dislike haye i have no idea. how is flint allowed to vote twice.

 

Like em all

Except Khan at the moment, my heart will take a while to heal over Barrera but he is young so I may be won round again.

 

Retiring undefeated is overrated when you spent most of your career fighting bums and nobodies.

 

One of those is me btw.

I believe he is pricing himself out of the Wlad fight at the moment and being a fool to himself.

If it gets signed I'll revert to being a fan again :good

 

Like Haye, dislike the rest.

 

I like
Haye
Hatton
Froch

I dislike
Khan

Haye talks the talk and has so far walked the walk.

Hatton is not as likeable as he once was, while annoying when he talks about himself as the 3rd person I dont think it is enough to make me hate him.

Froch used to annoy me intensely but his performance in beating Pascal has changed my opinion. Still wish he wouldn't harp on about Calzaghe.

Khan seems likeable enough but he has been ruined by Warren. He needs to learn humility and respect. The way he spoke about Barrera being 'easy' was disgraceful. That fight should never have gone past the end of the first round. Barrera would have been different had he been able to see properly. I still think Khan would have won but not as 'easily'

 

Haye:- Big fan of Haye, but he retired too young.
Froch:- Big fan also, but maybe needs to make his voice heard a bit more in order to stoke some interest.
Khan:- Don't like this 'I'm gonna be world heavyweight champion at six different weights by a week tuesday' nonsense, but he's making great progress. He's clearly far too good for bums and it looks like he may have too much for a lot of has-beens as well.
Hatton:- Ricky! Wicky! What can you say a bout him? F**k ugly c**t, would be a start, but that's no reason to dislike him. He's just one of the lads, and everybody likes lads.

 

:good

 

khan: liked him beofre he started going cocky. dont have much time for him now especially after saying barrera was easy and saying he deserved the win. Although he has an exciting style and good technique he has a glass chin.

Haye: Seems a nice guy i like him hope he does well.

Hatton; Nice guy abit deluded wish him the best

Froch: like him except when he speaks about calzaghe which used to be every sntance. Now hes ok though

 

Hatton: like
Froch: like
Haye: like
Khan: I hate him because of his race.