Why is it that British boxers dont get the respect they deserve? We have current world champs : Hatton, Woods, Witter, Calzage Former world champs: Benn, Eubank, Bruno, Lewis, Nelson, Naz Exciting new comers: Khan, Mitchell, Duddy, Haye Fringe contenders: Macrenelli, Magee, Reid, Froch, Arthur Yet when matchups are thought up British fighters are always the underdogs or completly dissmissed. Credit some people rate Hatton high but what about everyone else. Does anyone have there own thoughts on the subject or am I wrong and British fighters dont match up to the Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans etc...
Because the yanks can't make as much money off the backs of British fighters usually. The yank boxing media, the most influential in boxing doesn't hype the Brits so much, as it isn't in the best economic interests of the yank promoters.
I think your right but fighters like Calzaghie dont help. Could have been in the top 2 or 3 P4P if hed gone over and fought in america 5 years ago, but he seems happy doing what hes doing so more power to him!
the champs mentioned do get respect, but like all top fighters they are viewed by the highest standards. and thats why not all views on them are completely positive. but calzaghe is viewed as a guy who refuses to fight the best. that seemed to change with his fight with lacy........but since then he has gone back to fighting nobodies again. kahn gets tons up hype........but most people no longer buys it cause he fights only guys who cant punch. that has become so obvious just about everyone thinks something is wrong with his chin. and his fight with super feather willie limond wont change that. haye is viewed as just another banger with a chin of china....and that may be the truth. he has no future at heavy. and at cruiser no one really views him as the man to beat a guy like mormeck. duddy is fun to watch, but his fight with ancient yory boy campas showed his limitations. so whats to get excited about?? can he beat abraham or taylor?? next to no one thinks so. there are better prospects like pavlik and asikainen. macca is basically as one of the biggest jokes in boxing!!!! holds a decent belt......but never fought a world class fighter in his life!!! then he fights perhaps the worst challenger one could think of in bobby gunn.........a guy straight off the carnival circuit. this guy gets no respect..........and for a good reason:He deserves none. froch on the other hand gets more respect abroad than in britain. in german boxing mags he is ranked number four in the world......right behind the champs and ahead of a guy like bute!!! thats some respect. in britain i guess he is hated cause he is so arrogant, but one needs to distinguish between personality and actual talent. the latter of which he has enough. "amazing alex" arthur is another of the guys who got a lot of hype without actually doing something. sure he holds a euro belt, but that doesn´t make him a threat to the top guns of the devision. and most (myself included) view him as overprotected. after all, he is in his prime now. if you want people to get excited about him, let him tangle with a top gun. go for either pacman, marquez, valero or guzman. or at least say humberto soto and rocky suarez. but who is he fighting??? koba gogolatze. so why should he get the respect that others fighters get, fighters that are willing to go down the hard road?? so this is basically the problem all european boxers face, the perception of overprotection: that european fighters get manufunctured up the ratings, fight for a bogus belt (in arthurs case the vacant WBO belt) against suspect figthers. then they defend the belt against undeserving challengers.........and start calling out the top names. but when push comes to shove they have no intention of actually fighting anybody. examples: felix sturm, sergej dzinziruk, stipe drews.
Enzo is undefendable, Hatton has shown immense courage in the ring no matter what you think of his matchmaking this is undeniable, Calzaghe is dissapointing but the signs look promising and i think he will retire with some respect although not nearly as much as he could have done, Haye will get far on his offensive capabilities but how far is questionable, Woods has shown improvement but his limits are clear for all to see and Witter's new nickname should be "the bullshitter". Thats about it of the current crop, the rest aren't quite there yet but we'll see.
How is Arthur 'overprotected'? Take a look at his record, to win the european title he had to fight Boris Sinitzen, who was no mug & had a long reign. Hes since defended the euro title, & has now given it up in search of a world title fight. If & when he beats Gogoladze, he will be the interim champ, & when Guzman finally gives up the belt cos hes a fat waster who cant make the weight Alex will get his hands on it, & then come the big fights, all before he is 30. As for the WBO belt being bogus? Thats an obsolete opinion. HBO now class it as one of the 'big 4' so get used to it pal, the WBO is as good as any of the rest of the titles now. Just look at their list of champions, its no bum title. Time to move out of the dark ages.
Actually Dunky I can answer that and I freely admit to being a big fan of Arthur . Warren turned down an eliminator with Robbie Peden a little over a year ago in an IBF eliminator . Doing this made no sense as if Arthur won he would have been fighting for the vacant IBF title against Manuel Medina . Instead of that we're now at a point where Arthur never fought either man , never fought for the IBF title and is only now fighting for a World title and I'm afraid I'm going to have to apply my i'f it's the WBO title and a Frank Warren fighter is involved it doesn't count rule' . Gogoladze may be tough but he's less proven then Arthur at this stage and in reality Arthur should have moved on from the Peden's/Medina's and Gogoladze's of this world by now and be looking at fights with the big guys in the division . The only way this could be made up for is if Arthur fights Fana in a unification match after he wins the WBO . Fana's nothing special but if he had two titles then he would start to get taken seriously worldwide . All I hope is that Warren doesn't hold Arthur back having him fight easy WBO defenses because Alex is better than that :twisted: .
how can you say Witter is a bullshitter? Witter has became a world champ the hard way, hes the real deal in my eyes.
So the only way to get respect is to go to america? True but look at the bums that have respect over thier without actually earning it i.e. lacy pre calzaghe, tony ect the list is endless.
Solis knocked him out in three rounds in the heavyweight final in the 2001 world champs solis took a standing eight in teh first haye took a standing eight in second haye took a standing eight in the third haye was tko in the third but this is solis who has a winning record against savon
