American fighters are born with a silver spoon in mouth. Home advantage. Fact.

[Fenster]

Now before anyone gets upset... this is not a pop at America. I'm pretty sure the stats would reveal top British, German and Japanese fighters can be successful without leaving their country. Although the top American's really do have a silver spoon in their mouth when in comes to travelling.

Answering a question about Golovkin's worldwide popularity I noticed that so far in his pro career he had fought in Germany, Panama, Kazakhstan, Denmark, Ukraine, Monaco, California and New York. That is some globetrotting feat which got me looking at the worlds other top fighters.

I randomly picked out the current top American fighters.

Andre Ward has never left the states (two fights in the virgin islands against fellow countrymen). 22 of his 28 fights have been in California where he lives.

Floyd has never left the states. 25 of his 48 fights have been in Las Vegas where he lives.

Thurman, Porter, Broner and Danny Garcia have had 114 fights combined. Between them they have left the states just three times - Garcia fought in Mexico, Broner fought in Mexico and Thurman fought in Canada. Respect to Bradley and Crawford who both won their titles outside the states.

Using The Ring's P4P list I picked out the top non-Americans.

Wladimir Klitschko has fought in 8 countries.

Guillermo Rigondeaux has fought in 5 countries (no fights at home obviously).

Roman Gonzales has fought in 4 countries including 19 times outside his home one.

Sergey Kovalev has fought in 4 countries.

Manny Pac has fought in 5 countries.



((yes I was bored and went into full blown anorak wearing trainspotter mode but it killed some time. Fact.))

[El Kabong]

Well I guess I have to agree....




Golden spoon though

[Fenster]

I spent all morning doing extensive research to be greeted by a Ric Flair video. Brilliant.

[walrus]

You probably have a point but why would a star fighter travel when he doesn't need to. The American market is still the market fighters want to break into. We have over 300 million people in our country and it is very lucrative for a top fighter. What incentive does Floyd have to travel. GGG is impressive, he could easily settle here and make the bucks but I think the king of Monaco loves the guy and does a lot to have him fight in Monaco. So yes, a lot of us fighters don't travel but they don't need to.......factoid.

[El Kabong]

I spent all morning doing extensive research to be greeted by a Ric Flair video. Brilliant.

[powerpuncher]

I agree that they are fortunate. That's just how it works though. For the most part, the biggest fights will be in the US. Fortunately for others, they often don't have to live here. They can train in their country and then come here for their fight and go back home. Also, Americans usually don't care about the nationality of a fighter. They don't root for someone just because they are American.

[El Kabong]

I will post what I wrote to Fenster in a rep comment just so nobody thinks I'm trolling here.

When it comes to market place no matter the product, America is the Bullseye on the board, if you hit it big in America you are SET. The Beatles had to come to America and get over with the fans in order to "make it", but Elvis Presley didn't have to travel the globe in order to be "The King" because he was born and raised in America and when he hit it big here nobody really cared how big he was elsewhere his celebrity was established due to his making it big in America.

A guy like Manny Pacquiao won over America and therefore he is/was a WORLD star....meanwhile Floyd Mayweather Jr. he made it in America, never had to travel, the money was always here for him. Ricky Hatton in order to make more money, get the big fights he had to come to America.....just the way it is.

People always like to say America has no culture, but we set the standard for the world....if the US ain't buying it, then it ain't worth selling.

[walrus]

I agree that they are fortunate. That's just how it works though. For the most part, the biggest fights will be in the US. Fortunately for others, they often don't have to live here. They can train in their country and then come here for their fight and go back home. Also, Americans usually don't care about the nationality of a fighter. They don't root for someone just because they are American.

Yes, very true. It's like that in many sports here. I'm big on baseball and a number of my favorite players are Dominican, Pedro Martinez, a picture for the Red Sox, I would have taken a bullet for the guy. When it comes to sports we love the ability. Soccer players don't come to the US, the money and fame isn't here for them to the degree it is elsewhere.

[Spicoli]

That's just the way it's always been. The exposure, fan base and networks are what helped propel some of those p4p listed long before what they actually did in the ring. As a fighter you want to be where the lights shine brightest be it for a rebuild of sorts like Benn or a breakout like say a Hamed. Guys like Broner get the silver spoon up front but it turns into near self sabotage. You can fill a truck with guys pushed to the front off of a media fixation and hype machine that turned out to be flops. Silver spoons are not alway good.

[Master]

The US heavyweights are failed American footballers who think being a good athlete makes you a good boxer. Seth Mitchell was the next big thing and he has been wiped out.

[El Kabong]

The US heavyweights are failed American footballers who think being a good athlete makes you a good boxer. Seth Mitchell was the next big thing and he has been wiped out.

True.....but about those big time British boxers that never quite pan out?

[Beanz]

The US heavyweights are failed American footballers who think being a good athlete makes you a good boxer. Seth Mitchell was the next big thing and he has been wiped out.

True.....but about those big time British boxers that never quite pan out?

The pool from which the talent emerges is much smaller, so you can not really make that argument. The fact that we are at all successful in so many International sports, considering the small size of our population, is pretty astounding really. People mock a lot of British fighters as nearly men, and gallant losers etc, but the fact that so many over the last hundred years make it into the ring for world title fights in the first place is an achievement in itself.

[Kirkland Laing]

The biggest market is in America. You're not going to hold Floyd against Manny in the Phillipines, are you? You're going to hold it where you can show it prime time to maximise PPVs and where people who can pay top dollar for tickets can easily get there.

Guys from other countries go there because thats where they can make the most money. Even guys who can make a decent living in their domestic markets try their luck in America. Take the Ukrainian cabbage farmer. He can make decent dough in Germany, the country that is welcoming to refugees like him. But he's tried to make it in America. If he had an exciting style like Golovkin or a personality he could have become a PPV star and made ten or twenty times what he made fighting mainly in Germany. But he failed and is stuck fighting pikeys in Krautland.

America is where the money is, top fighters who aren't American have to go there because that's where their fights will make the most money and that's that.

[El Kabong]

The pool from which the talent emerges is much smaller, so you can not really make that argument. The fact that we are at all successful in so many International sports, considering the small size of our population, is pretty astounding really. People mock a lot of British fighters as nearly men, and gallant losers etc, but the fact that so many over the last hundred years make it into the ring for world title fights in the first place is an achievement in itself.

1. Ok, if that makes you feel better. But what of China and India if all that matters is the size of the pool?

2. What is success in your eyes? Which sports does England own alone? Cricket, Rugby, Snooker?

3. I don't mind your fighters at all, some are very good, I just dislike the ones who talk a ton of shit and don't back it up.

[Beanz]

The pool from which the talent emerges is much smaller, so you can not really make that argument. The fact that we are at all successful in so many International sports, considering the small size of our population, is pretty astounding really. People mock a lot of British fighters as nearly men, and gallant losers etc, but the fact that so many over the last hundred years make it into the ring for world title fights in the first place is an achievement in itself.

1. Ok, if that makes you feel better. But what of China and India if all that matters is the size of the pool?

2. What is success in your eyes? Which sports does England own alone? Cricket, Rugby, Snooker?

3. I don't mind your fighters at all, some are very good, I just dislike the ones who talk a ton of shit and don't back it up.

1. It's not about feeling better it's a fact. It's not just the UK either, Mexico, Japan, Cuba, in real terms you could argue that America has under achieved in many sports, Boxing included.

2. I am not going to get into that argument there are threads about that already and it is a fact the most popular sports internationally were invented or codified by Brits and so we actually own virtually all of them. Including rounders baseball.

3. The same here with your fighters. Fighters with a big mouth are hardly the preserve of Great Britain.