Is Smith Jr. the most watchable fighter north of 160?

Indeed. That's the first guy I always think of when someone comes up with that phrase.

 

You used to hear it a lot years ago. The Americans, in particular, were desperate for a white heavyweight champion. Silly, really.

I'm getting on a bit, so for me it's Gerry Cooney. They used to call him that all the time and no one batted an eyelid. Funny how social values change within your own lifetime.

 

I think that's a very unpleasant term, yeah. Just popped in my head after reading the "blue collar white American" in the OP.

 

I took your comment as tongue in cheek, I didn't think you were being seriously racist.

We've become very race conscious over the past twenty years and that's a good thing; there was a lot of injustice and denied opportunity in the past due to race. It's still with us, of course, and you see it on all sides. Look at that awful story from yesterday where the white guy was apparently tortured live on facebook. Then there's all the poice shootings of black people that have been in the news all last year.

Nonetheless, we mustn't get too hung up on it. If we can get to the point where race is truly irrelevant then a little light hearted banter is fine. I don't think boxing, or society generally, is anything like as racist as it was in generations past.