Why do so many British fighters hold their lead hand so low? Calzaghe almost came unstuck in his last few fights, Maccarinelli was knocked senseless by Afolabi, Froch is a disaster waiting to happen against a top fighter, and Hatton's only line of defence against Pacquiao was his nose. They can't all have the hand speed of Ali or be as elusive as Naseem Hamed.
It's not even holding the hand so low.... It's a British mentality that we "have to get stuck in" or "Have a tear up" or "see how hard you are if you can take a shot".... nothing exemplifies this more than Froch saying before the Taylor fight that he can take anyones punches in the division and not get hurt..... The few British boxers who would be considered slick are not really liked.... Herol Grahom and Junior Witter....thos who like to hit and not be hit - don't get a huge fanbase..... In the US recently there was a bit of a debate recently as to why HBO and the general public favour latin/white (and basically all but black fighters)....and it was the likes of Mayweather, Winky Wright and Bernard Hopkins that pointed out they have skills and just because they don't always get involved in a tear up, it doesn't mean they are not entertaing.... it reminds me of what Tyson mentions in his recent released biography...where as a Kid he would go into a shop to steal knowing the person was watching him....but it was the fact that he could steal while knowing they were aware of his intentions and he could still get away with it.....which gave the most satisfaction....it was the sneakyness and cunning that he appreciated and I beleive black US fighters are those who have most common with that mentality of being able to outsmart your opponent with clever boxing rather than getting involved in a slugfest which latinos and whites seem to prefer. Even Calzaghe who would probably be described as a slick quick fighter....loves getting involved in a tear up when he shouldn't...its a British Mentality that encourages them...Show how hard you are by how many punches you can take. Even Khan wanted to show how hard he was by trading with Prescott even though his then new coach had told him to keep his hands up etc. Only when he met Roach did he realise the importance of using his strengths and being patiant. Whereas the majority of black US fighters who grew up on the streets and make it to the higher levels...end up being slick counter punchers or at least are very likely to fight that style.....as they recognize the aim to hit and not be hit....ala Flloyd Mayweather.... it maybe sneaky like Hopkins and boring on occasions...but more British fighters should consider learning their trade in the US under differant coaches. Strange thing about Hatton fight was that he mentioned before the fight about how Marquez had given Pac nightmares with his style and he also pointed out "Hatton is much bigger than Marquez"...but recognizing the fact Marquez would wait and wait some more....move out of the way and then counter Pac....which is what Hatton said in the interview....yet he goes out and does the exact opposite....low hands...diving in....straight lines....chin up...... It's a shame.
You're right. Did you see it a couple of months ago when the Olympians fought? Frankie Gavin, Billy-Joe Saunders and some other fella knocked their guys out, but James Degale didn't manage to knock his opponent out and was jeered. He was boo'd by the British crowd simply because he didn't knock the guy out, despite the fact he has obvious boxing skills and a gold medal. Couldn't believe it.
Why do I keep seeing "Ahmed" it's "Hamed". Anyway I agree its a british mentality of getting stuck in, believing passion, agression, heart will always win the day. You see it in football, all the home nations have very few technically proficient footballers.
A lot of it is down to poor and inept coaching. Hatton has always had his hands protecting his throat and not his chin. What can you say about that except bad habit? Froch and Haye I realise keep their lead hand low to make the jab difficult to pick up, but at the same time they don't seem to have great awareness or reactions, and clearly nobody has taught them to anticipate punches and then bring the hands up. Drop them again out of range at least. I must say I don't see a lot wrong with Calzaghe's defence. He is one of the few blessed with head movement, and the vast majority of the time his hands are higher than any British fighter. Sure he gets hit, you tell me somebody that throws 1000 punches and does not give his opponent a chance to counter. It could also be true what people say, some fighters either want to act like bad asses, or perhaps they've been told so many times by their promoters to put on a good showing to improve their marketability they have got into some bad habits of thinking of offence before defence.
That probably had more to do with Degale's poor technique,he could only flick his jab and not deliver it in a proper effective manner......which is actually a lack of skill really, and also his insistence and throwing shoe-shinning combinations which did the accumulative damage of being flicked in the face by someone's index finger. He wasn't fighting........fine, however he wasn't boxing either. Instead he was farting around the ring, taking the **** having made some very bold predictions about his career. He got hit pretty stupidly at times too, so it's not like he was employing masterful defence. If you asked Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright who were they most impressed with out of the 3 prospects I'd be quite confident none would pick Degale. The guy has plenty of potential, but he has so much to change to fit into the pro game it's unreal, and with his apparent attitude it may take him a long time to fit into the pros(if he ever does).
At least they make fights exciting! Although I do find myself increasingly shouting at the TV "get yer hands up!" Both with Ricky and Froch two weekends in a row!
I think you have to bear in mind the 'marketability' factor too, though. Any idiot can appreciate a brawl. Only boxing aficionados and students of the sweet science will appreciate the merits of being a boxing out-fighter. On pure numbers alone the brawler will get more support as their style is easier to understand and relate-to (far more Britons have been in an artless dust-up than have been schooled in the art of counter-punching). There's also another element of the British psyche at work. There's a large chunk of our society that, when a sportsperson or team reaches a certain level of profile or celebrity, will support things with sheer blind enthusiasm rather than with any degree of understanding. You can see this during high-profile England football matches: a whole host of people come out of the woodwork who don't pay much attention to football the rest of the time. Whether this comes from blind and stupid patriotism, or just the desire to be associated with success, or the desire to indulge in a big communal event, I don't know, but it's definitely there. I remember watching the Eng-Por quarter-final of Euro 2004 sitting next to a girl with a St. Georges flag on her face who was shrieking her support. She'd scream "Offside!" on passes which clearly weren't (even passes in Portugal's own half); she'd scream "Foul!" at what were really very good challenges; She'd call the referee everything under the sun whenever he gave a correct decision that happened to go against England. The idiocy came to a head when, after 70 minutes, she turned to me and asked, "Who does Ronaldo play for?". I really wanted to say, "Why the **** are you here?", but was too caught up in the match so just told her it was Man U. When the majority of your fanbase is composed of people with this blind level of support, where's the pressure to produce well-rounded boxers when brawlers will do just as well? People at work knew I liked boxing (or at least paid it more attention than they did) so they asked my opinions on the fight this weekend. I caught an awful lot of **** last week for saying that, although Ricky had a decent chance, I thought Pacquiao would probably win. None of these people had even seen Pacquiao fight, or even knew much about the game, and yet they felt qualified to disagree strongly. People in this country sure do love a fighter, but most of them don't actually know **** about it.
