Comments on: In Defense of Roy Jones Jr & Other European Fighters

By: anon

anon — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:58:57 +0000

i agree with alot of what the writer says..but the reason y things are the way they are is because the real recognition and money is in america so thats y fighters should go to america, plus unlike other european countries u do not get ripped of as often just because you arent the hometown guy.because of this pride from both sides of not wanting to travel we arent gettin the best fights anymore, guys like kessler, valuev are nobodys in terms of popularity and recognition because they dont travel.i would rather see sum1 like ricky hatton going to america then get a loss in a dodgy decision in germany, not sayin that america has know bias or politics but its better than anywher else.ps im not american

By: mitch

mitch — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:21:40 +0000

I would love to see fighters travel more but America is the boxing capital of the world. I’m not American either before anyone thinks i’m a patiotic yank. But they are less inclined to rip off a fighter with a decision then other countries. I’m Austrailian and our fighters have gone to Germany to fight for titles and the refs just don’t give them a fair go. How do you think the superstars of the sport see this? They’ed be thinking why go there, fight them in front of their supporters, with their ref, and their judges. A great example is Barrera Vs Khan. who thinks that that was fair that the cut happened in the 2nd round but they didn’t stop it till round 5?

By: Wayne Lord

Wayne Lord — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:45:05 +0000

Great article. I have been saying the same thing for many years. Britain is the birthplace of the manly art but the US is where it flourished. The US is not where foreign fighters can make most $. now. Americans always stay at home rather than risk taking on someone in their backyard.
Ali went where he could make the most money cuz he was supremely confident. When you have home fans you know you will get a close decision. Why do baseball, hockey and basketball teams try so hard to get home field edge? Cuz fans help to pick them up. US fighters always get that edge but people did not mind cuz they made big $. Japan, Europe, Australia and Canada are boxing hotbeds for marginal fights but the US is always tops when it comes to mega fights. When I say mega fights, I mean where Americans pay attention to the contestants.
Remember even Americans get ignored in the US if you do not have a home base and if you fight in a small city. That’s the way they are so it’s not necessarily them against the world. I watch the World Cup, SuperBowl or NBA regardless of the teams. I enjoy the event. Americans go for big cities or big names. Its in their DNA.
Super Roy Jones was huge and still is my all time favourite boxerr followed by Whitaker and the less known Howard Davis of Olympic fame. Roy used to beat people so easily it was incredible. Speed & power he had it all.
It was important to him to keep all titles so he met the mandatories. I get that but I wanted to see him do the impossible and he did. He won the heavyweight and came back down and squeaked by to regain the L-Heavy. I could see he was too weak and talk about drained? He should never have fought the 2nd time at 175 but the same ego that makes the great boxers also bring them down.
Americans used to dominate but we keep forgetting that the Cubans & East Europenas never went pro. Now they are pros, most Americans make huge $ in the NBA, NFL and baseball. Many boxing gyms are gone and the immigrants who used to be hungry and boxed are now rich businessmen.
Like most dynasties the mighty US dominance of boxing has fallen. They still have great boxers but not the abundance of before. On the brighter side, their once terrible soccer team beat Spain the Euro champs and almost beat Brazil the 5 time world champs. So everything is upside down.

By: MrKTFO

MrKTFO — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:48:51 +0000

ITS ON! VITALI VS HAYE 13 SEPTEMBER!

AGAIN IN A STADIUM! IN GERMANY!

THIS WILL BE THE BEATING OF HIS LIFE!

By: bob charles

bob charles — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:59:48 +0000

well said Coops…

By: Coops

Coops — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:57:20 +0000

Yes, good, well balanced article. The best I’ve read on here. Reality is, in many cases fighters make more money in the US but the US fight fans and media, generally, have a tendancy to under-rate European fighters. The US does need to realise that fights are for WORLD titles not US titles – look at the lists of current champs – not a great proportion of US fighters.
There are of course some superb US fighters, but likewise British, European and South American.
Give credit where credit is due.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:51:27 +0000

Very good article.Gives me hope that this site may be able to bounce back to the once great BOXING site it once was.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:57:39 +0000

here here, finally and after a long wait we have an article that takes a neutrel perspective and gives us a rounded and solid conclusion.

By: Chris Pugh

Chris Pugh — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:22:55 +0000

I totally agree with the article. Its about time the Americans realised that there is an entire world out there. So go fight in it!!!!

why make others travel? thats easy – to get an advantage!!!! if they had to travel then we would see a totally different picture.

By: Joey

Joey — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:22:20 +0000

This is without doubt one of the most insightful and impartial articles I have read on this site. well done to the man doing the writing