Does Being American Mean People Overrate You?
February 16th, 2010
By Adam Liaolo: This is no slight on American fighters before i start, some of my favorite fighters, and virtually every boxing fan in the world has a US fighter on their list. The country gave us Sugar Rays Robinson and Leonard, Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis, not to mention modern day greats such as Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley and Roy Jones Jnr. The list is endless and too impressive to even consider debating.
It seems that whets good for the goose, isn’t good enough for the gander. Being knocked out or beaten convincingly when you’re still developing as a fighter for a European, Amir Khan, is a big no-no. But for a US fighter, losing early has no bearing. Bernard Hopkins lost his first ever fight at light-heavyweight. Were people who watched that, with their clairvoyant powers, still convinced he was going to be the fighter he was today?
There’s not a man alive who thought that, but Bernard’s character and will to learn got him to where he is, and nobody but nobody could have told me that B-Hop was still destined to be great after the Mitchell fight. Even after B-Hop fought Jones Jr., who could honestly say he was going to go undefeated for 10 years as middleweight champ and beating some of the best pound-for-pound fighters of the past 20 years? He undoubtedly had talent, but who could have foreseen THAT much talent? Hind-sight is a beautiful thing, people claiming they knew it all along.
Impressive records with a few soft-touches in, ala Joe Calzaghe, again is a big no-no. But let’s have it right, Roy Jones Jr. didn’t have to fight so many tomato cans like Richard Frazier, Eric Harding and David Telesco. Clinton Woods was never going to be great, he had an impressive record on paper but a fighter of Jones’ talent exposed him for what he was. Tarver was the same, Tarver barely had 20 wins on his record before he was being touted as a great and what happened to him.
For every argument against a non-American, there’s an American fighter guilty of something similar. Yes, there are disgraces like Sven Ottke and Dennis Inkin, but they are their own men, you cannot tar every European with that brush. Talent is talent, but if you don’t have the natural athleticism and skills of Roy Jones Jr. to make good fighters look average then the long steady learning curve of Bernard Hopkins beckons, if you’ve got the mental strength to do it that is. Britain has some seriously talented young boxers, and they showed their improvements and maturity with every fight.
Frankie Gavin, Nathan Cleverly, Tyson Fury, Amir Khan, Kevin Mitchell to name but a few, the only difference between them and Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander, Chad Dawson and Tavoris Cloud for example, is that the Americans are further along in their development. Who says Dawson is going to be great? He isn’t great now, he has potential to get there but it is no guarantee. He has no less natural ability than Amir Khan, but he is further long in his development as a champion than Amir.
The way Bradley is talked about, he’d have survived the tank at Tiananmen Square just with his work-rate. He’s a well rounded good fighter and I expect to see him in some great fights, but as quickly as you can rise, you can fall. There are no certainties in boxing. It is about the quality of the fighters, not the quantity. If I had 10 times the population of a small island I’d expect more of any kind of person, never mind exceptional athletes. Hind-sight is a wonderful thing, but star-spangled clairvoyance does not exist.
Tags: 21 Responses to “Does Being American Mean People Overrate You?”
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SPECIMEN, the american trainers have far more choice and talent to pick from, britain is tiny compared with america, europe is taking over because its mainstream now in eastern europe, the amatuers in america does need some help
Boxing is a sport built on hype, talent and ability sadly isn’t enough to get you to the top. American fighters get a lot of exposure due to their very good history of fighters, promoters and big money fights.
Overrated is a term most boxing fans should be used to thanks largely due to the multi-titles and weights.
They are the best when it come to putting on the glitzy show like la vegas, Madison square garden etc plus hyping up there fighters apart from the UK’s Amir Kon Kan’t !!!Because Boy thats what i call a hype up boxer.
yanks r bumckes pure and simple ENGLAND RULES ,,,, and mister gilfoid is the iggest muppet of them all,, saying dirrells a young sugar ray robbo ur avin a laff mate
I think a bigger problem than Americancentric attitudes (which I have no doubt exist) is that European, especially British, booking has been very conservative.
I was a Calzaghe fan but my overriding feeling on his career is that it was a missed opportunity. No doubt he wouldn’t have traded some of those great Cardiff evenings but I can’t help but wonder how it would have been if he’d gone and risked a few losses earlier, fought guys he might have matched up with badly on paper (like, say, Winky Wright).
I think in the last few years we’ve seen a lot more openness between weight divisions than in times gone by. I hope the one or two big money Latino vs American or European vs American fights we’ve had will lead to a trend in which the continents are not so sequestered. But it has to be European boxers going over to the States and not the other way around.
they are for sure.americans are only good at promiting fights but the rest of the world is catching up.danny green is the man to watch this year who does not fight in america.
its not just american boxers that are hugely overated look at witter the quitter.hatton at least tested himself against the best.
An example of an overated fighter from america timothy bradley !! Ducks devon to make nate come up in weight then pretends to call everyone out when we all no full well he couldnt take the top of an egg let alone beat a decent fighter i hope khan or hatton expose him soon they would both walk straight thru him.
american atheletes=steroids end of story
Quite the opposite, its easier to be a start in UK meaning us british vastly overate our fighters. Amir khan is a prime example, Hatton is another. Both vastly overated
US fans…& by extension UK fans as US boxing rules the english speaking world…just don’t get that the largest market for boxing isn’t the US. fighters can make more money, fight in front of larger crowds & get seen by more people fighting in germany. germany is a huge market which is tapped into other, slightly less huge, markets in central & eastern europe. don king promotes in germany now…which has to tell you something.
US fans are just so insular & ignorant…”well if he was any good he’d fight in the US to prove himself against the best”. boxers who make a living in germany would actually be taking a pay cut & fighting in front of smaller audiences in the us. why would they do that? so they can prove to a bunch of lame fanboys who are probably watching for free on the internet that they deserve some mythical “respect” rating? US fans who think that every fight in germany is a fix…but come to vegas & you’ll have to pay off joe cortez or he’ll dock you points while eugenia williams watches the floor & then scores the fight 120-108 to the yank.
boxing USED TO BE big in america. for a country that keeps saying “boxing is dying” & “ufc is taking over” maybe they should look at the amounts of money…the huge crowds…the massive ppv sales…that they generate in germany. but unless they start speaking english most of the ignorant monoglots will keep believing the hype hbo & showtime shovel down their throats to sell the b & c level bouts they show…
Being overrated as an American is slightly acceptable as most good fighter come from here. But over rating yourself by proclaiming your the greatest of all time without facing the best is totally lunatic !
I think it is fair that american fighters are slightly overated beause the fact is if you fight in america you have to fight the best.
Yes..they lean towards American boxers…5-10% extra points maybe. Obviously, that is why most other non-American boxers go to the US for big money fights. They get media attention that will hype them even more. It’s basically hometown favoritism.
I think its cultural. If white fighters are decent the media tends to gravitate towards them. If your Mexican the Mexican fight population will support. Black fighters its the same thing. America has always had good fighters. Mexico as well. With European fighters they are just few and far between that are good. Great fighters come from impovershed places no matter where your at. America has more poor people so you get better fighters. Just like Mexico….
It’s the American standard that usually sets the precedence. Outside of America, they have to work twice as hard just to be noticed. Just see how many kids around the world idolizes American Athletes.
I see the American flag and the British flag side by side. Ever heard of the term ‘Come across THE POND’? If you maid it the UK, You now have the opportunity to make something of yourself in the USofA. The market is bigger but you have to convince the American standard to you fit the shoe. Basically only the cream of the crop from anyone outside the U.S. will get the opportunity. So everyone outside the U.S. can only dream about getting that opportunity to shine like their American counter part. “Does being an American mean they overrate you?” It’s just a very blanketed title or statement.
The American standard does not mean that other nations standard is any weaker. most are even better it’s just the marketing. It’s a big market. It’s where you want to sell your brand or product. Most envy American athletes because most people think it’s where the grnder things happen.
most talented boxers are called overrated at some stage of their careers, its just the nature of the sport. its a shame that if a boxer gets beaten once or twice they say they are overrated. Hatton has lost only to the 2 best boxers in the world so apparently he is overrated. It undermines those 2 who are truly exceptional.
i think people overate prospects in general also once the papers get behind a fighter a non boxing fan will belive anything
whether or not you think de la hoya is over-rated is your opinion. its not about whether they are actually good or bad, its about whether their nationality makes people believe theyre better than they actually are.
de la hoya was born in america
Mexican
what about de la hoya