Why do many American boxing fans refuse to recognise great boxers from outside of the U.S?

Question

Ricky Hatton.
Joe Calzaghe.
Amir Khan.
Enzo Maccarinelli.

For Example.

I was just being a little contentious by mentioning Khan and Maccarinelli. yes, they haven't proved anything yet.

Why did the likes of Hatton and Calzaghe have to wait such a long time to get exposure in the 'home of boxing'?

Answer 1

This is not just about Boxers but everything American
Its not the fault of the Americans. Its the fault of their media. Americans are brought up to think they are the greatest Nation on Earth and that anything that is evil is not American and anything that is good is All American. The Media keep them in fear of outsiders and Hollywood perpetuates the myth that Americans save the planet every time they are called upon. The Truth is that America is fast becoming the most hated nation on Earth, not because of the people but because The Government runs their Media and their Media rules the people.

Answer 2

As an American I don't think we refuse to awknowlege a great champ from outside the US. There has been great champs from england but sometimes some of the british fighters are overhyped. Calzaghe is a great fighter and is dominating the super middleweight division peroid, however Prince Naseem was all flash no substance. Also I know that Hatton is a national hero is England but to say he is a more skilled boxer than Mayweather or even De La Hoya for that matter is ridiculous.

Answer 3

Khan can't even be mentioned with Hatton and Calzaghe. Calzaghe is more than likely the greatest Super Middleweight in the 25 year history of the divison and Hatton was the undisputed Champ at Junior Welterweight. Naseem Hamed is to blame for British fighters not getting the respect they deserve. We heard this same song and dance about Hamed and then he was exposed by Barrera, even still some British fight fans talk about how he is one of the top 10 fighters of all time.

Answer 4

Hey damian, I don't think it helps when people from the UK say fighters like Khan and Maccarinelli are 'great'. Don't get me wrong, I'm Welsh and from Swansea so I'm a huge Maccarinelli fan and would love to see a local boy do good, but he's fighting nobodies and has barely done enough to warrent being 'good' let alone anything more. Don't even get me started on Khan! I don't often agree with Elmer, but generally our fighters ARE crap.

I agree many US boxing fans are very blinkered when it comes to acknowledging other fighters but their country HAS been the centre of boxing for so long now and it probably is difficult to accept that the rest of the world has progressed in leaps and bounds. It's just something you have to live with!

Also doesn't help that you're making out like American fans are shortsighted when your 'greats' are all from the UK...

Answer 5

I am a big fan of Ricky Hatton and hope he beats Floyd Mayweather. He proved something to me when he beat Kostya Tszu. Joe Calzaghe also is a great talent. It is too early to tell about Amir Khan though. It is just a matter of exposure and familiarity. It is easy to be a big fish in a small pond. Even American fighters face skeptisim until they have a couple big name fights. Hopkins was the champ for years but it wasn't until he beat Felix Trinidad that he got any respect. Kelly Pavlik dominated every opponent and was 30-0 with 27 KO's but it wasn't until he fought Edison Miranda and Jermaine Taylor that he got any recognition. Likewise Calzaghe had to beat Jeff Lacy and Hatton had to beat Tszu.

Answer 6

Henry Armstrong is 50% community American? it rather is a lot! He ought to honestly be known by utilising the media as between the final community American athletes ever and not merely that yet in addition between the main mandatory community American person in the historic previous of the US. Barack Obama and Tiger Woods get a lot of reward for being a million/2 black, nicely Armstrong is a million/2 community American so he merits to additionally be reconized as a community American. The media is bias and could consistently be that way! it rather is the situation!

Answer 7

Who are these Hatton, Calzaghe, Khan and Maccaronilinolli of which you speak?

Seriously, the trouble us yanks have with you brits is how every time a limey scores a KO and you think he's boxing's jesus. Years ago, while relaxing in a sports pub, I had to hear a couple of Brits go on and on about this British boxer named "Prince" and how he was better than Muhammad Ali. I told them the should be careful about how great they estimate their fighter to be, there would probably be some cool, collected mexican with a good left hook that might change things. Then came Barerra.

So if you Angle and Saxon hybrids would just curb your enthusiasm over your favorites, us Yanks wouldn't be so quick to dismiss them as the easy-to-bleed-pasty-skinned over-rated boxers they ALL TURN OUT TO BE.

Answer 8

I'm American and I don't refuse to recognize talent. For instance, look at Lennox Lewis' reign as Heavyweight Champ. For me, Ricky Hatton isn't a Champ yet, but look at his predecessor, Kostya Tzyu who was. I'm not totally impressed with Calzaghe either.

I never look at nationality when I judge a boxer.

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http://boxingmadness.com

Answer 9

I asked a similar question the other day, my (main) argument was that the majority of any boxer's career record is made up against "no-name" fighters so to speak. But for some reason the american boxers are worshipped while other boxers are dismissed as "average" because they fought "no-namers" in their own respective countries. Americans, for whatever reasons, think the no namers in thier country are worthy opponants whereas no-namers elsewhere are "bums". This, however, is just the tip of the ice-berg.

Answer 10

Because America is insular and parochial, most cities don't even cover the news from the next city. San Francisco news has little of San Jose and almost nothing of Sacramento.

Since they don't know anything about something going on 50 miles away why would you be surprised that something 3,000 miles away escapes their notice?

The US has a history of isolationism, they wanted to ignore WWII and would have, mostly, if they hadn't been dragged in to it when Japan and Germany both declared war on the US. Remember that the next time an American talks about bailing out Europe, they didn't, they came because Hitler declared war on them.