Nationalism in opinions on fighters and fights

There are many valid points already discussed on here and pretty much all angles covered.

People obviously want to see their countrymen do well, in whatever sport that is happening but I think boxing is slightly different. At least amongst the real fans who respect that boxers have alot of guts and courage to get in a ring to have someone try punch their head off. There are obviously the tools out there with not many brain cells who want to see someone get battered to near death, and also want a fighter to get their country one up on another they for some reason unknown hate.

However I feel that actual boxing fans, or most of them, although they might not like a specific boxer for any given reason, they still respect the fact they are putting everythin on the line to be in that ring. This can't really be said for any other sport. In football (or soccer) I follow my team with a passion and I hate the clubs rivals team, will call them all sorts of names, but that is only about the club as a whole, i'll still respect the kind of football they play and some of their talented players. Others may not be so kind.

For me with boxing I have some element of routing for the UK fighter, but not always. In most cases i like to route for the underdog. However, whoever i route for does not cloud my judgement on who i think will win.

For example i really wanted Hatton to beat Mayweather, I even jumped on the bandwaggon and had a bet on him. Not because I thought he would win, I always thought Mayweather would, but I had that 'what if' feeling. I think I got caught up with the hype in essence, but this didn't cloud my judgement.

I still don't particularly like some UK fighters though, as i mentioned earlier for different reasons. I am not a huge fan of Carl Froch for instance, just due to his personality, shouting his mouth about being better than Calzaghe despite stepping up to world class level. And I am not a big fan of Amir Khan due to the fact of his calibre of opposition and his claims of becoming the youngest british world champion. I am however a big fan of Hatton and Haye and on the world scene Cotto. But this is due to their fighting styles and attitudes.

This tells me I like fighters with ambition who go after exactly what they want.

But I also like close, decent fights where either fighter has a good chance to win. I also try to stay as unbiased as possible, except maybe with Hatton and Haye ;)

This weekends fight is perfect example of Nationalism crreping into peoples minds, getting in the way of sound logic and judgement. Heck I wrote the ost and I'm feeling very nationalistic for this weekends fight!

I believe that usually there is Nationalism in boxing and any other sport, with some exeptions of course. Just look at my Nick and you can make your own conclusions. However, I try to remain objective (sometimes can fail as any human), as an example I won some bets with Finito Lopez when he fought Alex "El Nene" Sanchez and Hammed vs. Wilfredo Vazquez because I new that those were practically impossible wins for the Puertoricans. I actually took advantage of the nationalism of some people at my country.

That nationalism makes the adrenaline flow and this weekend I can anticipate a lot of adrenaline at Puerto Rico and Mexico. This will make us remind some great fighters such as Wilfredo Gomez and Salvador Sanchez. This surely will be a great fight where the best man will win (Cotto of course ;D)

I think subconsiously people tend to back fighters of there of race they definatly show nationalistic biast. But people tend to fall in love with fighters pretty early in seeing them. The first time i see Mike McCallum i was hooked on Mike. Its the second and thrid fighters people like that have a gimmick like power or a hard luck story the fans of those guy tend to be quite rabbid.

If we speak about nationalism we need to speak about Tito. This 100 * 35 miles island with ~3.8 million people paralized everytime Tito fought, and the day after his victories were a national celebration. It was crazy how the airport got crowded and all streets in San Juan (PR capital) we totally jammed in traffic receiving the champ.

The most difficult moment was his first lost with Hopkins, where I (and many people) :eek:

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Originally Posted by Markusdarkus

I think subconsiously people tend to back fighters of there of race they definatly show nationalistic biast. But people tend to fall in love with fighters pretty early in seeing them. The first time i see Mike McCallum i was hooked on Mike. Its the second and thrid fighters people like that have a gimmick like power or a hard luck story the fans of those guy tend to be quite rabbid.

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That's true its very hard to not want to support the guy who has been through alot and believe he deserves it more or wants it more. Saying that now has made me even realize how the Countdown to Cotto V Margarito on HBO made me an even more of a die hard supporter of Margarito seeing where he grew up and the story with his brother. That alone makes me want it more for him.

i will always support a countryman unless he is a jerk.

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Originally Posted by Pavlik

i will always support a countryman unless he is a jerk.

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Guess thats why neither Hopkins nor Mayweather could sell ppv without having a *name* to fight.

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Originally Posted by Markusdarkus

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Originally Posted by Pavlik

i will always support a countryman unless he is a jerk.

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Guess thats why neither Hopkins nor Mayweather could sell ppv without having a *name* to fight.

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Not necessarily, all of us Filipinos LOVE the PACMAN but he also needs big name fighters to sell PPV.

Yet again, I get into a good thread late!

I don't think there is anything wrong with backing a fighter of your nationality. Just as long as if a debate comes up, people don't look through tunnel vision and can take the points against their fighter with respect.

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Originally Posted by caleoh12

Yet again, I get into a good thread late!

I don't think there is anything wrong with backing a fighter of your nationality. Just as long as if a debate comes up, people don't look through tunnel vision and can take the points against their fighter with respect.

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Well thats the whole problem with it. I've seen and been guilty of it myself. And I am seeing it and perhaps doing the same for this next big one!!