What type of boxing fan ARE you?

[0james0]

60% Objective
20% Casual
20% Nationistic

As much as I pay an interest to the older generation, I have to admit my knowledge of them is very little compared to modern fighters. I watch a lot of boxing though, will always watch at least 2 shows a week and all the fights in them.

[Mark TKO]

an objective fan by far

I have backed the Brit boys in the past - Benn, Bruno, Hatton, now Haye etc.. but I have also disliked (a lot !) a good few Brit fighters too.

Have to admit I don't tune into Friday night fights to see the journeymen fighters etc.. - but will watch later if I hear there's been a good scrap and can take or leave the support bouts in fights (unless there's a 'one to watch for the future' type fighter on there I've heard about)

I keep an eye on the ratings in the Ring and am well aware who the main men out there are - but some I have yet to see in action if not shown in UK.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

40% - Objective
25% - Nationalistic
15% - Bully
20% - Hater

I'm a long time boxing fan who shamelessly supports GBR whether good or shite and would not really hold back in order to get my point across however I am very cynical about boxing lately so I'm more biased to dislike qualities of modern boxing in a less than objective fashion.

[ono]

I'd say i'm about 85% objective. I try to be 100% but sometimes it's hard when someone else is being a pure 'hater.'

I'm about 5% casual, in the sense that my interest has waned from what it was. It's mainly down to lack of coverage and inactivity of a lot of fighters.

I'm also probably around 10% nationalistic, but that's more down to the fact that English fighters are recieve more coverage in England, so it's easier to follow an English fighter throughout their career. I'm not blindly nationalistic. If there was an American fighter and an English fighter who receieved the same coverage over here from an early age, there'd be just as much chance i'd take to either fighter. Nationality wouldn't come into it.

[cnote111]

Very cool thread!!

40% Objective
10% Nationalistic
5% Young
0% Casual
0% Bully
25% One Man Fan
20% Hater

I would be lying if i didn't admit that i have a touch of biasness when it comes to love and hated fighters... The way my mind works when it comes to boxing is i will purposly have a favorite fighter, and i will have my most hated fighter, and then i will be objective on everyone else...

Being passionate about a certain figher, and then hating another just adds a lot spice to being a fan of the sport... I will always live by this... I'm content with it...

[Mar]

I'm just a general fan of the sport as a whole. Not any particular fighter, country, style, race, weight division. Doesn't matter to me. Most of the time i really don't even care who wins, just a good fight. One round ko or 12 round decison, i like em all. Now football....that's a whole different story.

[Onix]

What type of fan would you consider a person who only watches fights between the top prospects and the elite only. A person who researches and does the history thing but never watches the regular fights or maybe worse yet never goes to watch a fight live?

[TitoFan]

Without a doubt. 100% Objective.

LMAO! VD, you're an old veteran... so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But let me go out on a limb here and venture that you're probably:

99% objective
1% bully?

[TitoFan]

Very cool thread!!

40% Objective
10% Nationalistic
5% Young
0% Casual
0% Bully
25% One Man Fan
20% Hater

I would be lying if i didn't admit that i have a touch of biasness when it comes to love and hated fighters... The way my mind works when it comes to boxing is i will purposly have a favorite fighter, and i will have my most hated fighter, and then i will be objective on everyone else...

Being passionate about a certain figher, and then hating another just adds a lot spice to being a fan of the sport... I will always live by this... I'm content with it...

LOL... I like your honesty. In fact, sometimes we tend to be rather harsh in judging ourselves. Really, there's nothing wrong with being an avid fan of a specific fighter... and sometimes we tend to overlook certain shortcomings, and are more prone to forgive and excuse bad outings. Being a "hater" is the same way. I think very few of us can honestly say we've never just disliked a certain fighter, regardless of his good qualities in and/or out of the ring.

[TitoFan]

60% Objective
20% Casual
20% Nationistic

As much as I pay an interest to the older generation, I have to admit my knowledge of them is very little compared to modern fighters. I watch a lot of boxing though, will always watch at least 2 shows a week and all the fights in them.

Your honesty is admirable. But based on your description, I'd say you have some "Young Fan" in there as well. Since you DO have some interest in the older generation, I can suggest that you download or otherwise obtain some classics from years past, just so you can get a flavor of what people are talking about when they mention a Roberto Duran, a Sugar Ray Leonard, a Wilfredo Benitez... or even further back... a Sugar Ray Robinson, a Rocky Marciano, a Floyd Patterson. It gives you a different, and I think better, perspective.

[0james0]

I've been thinking about this more, was thinking last night while watching a Bruno classic show, showing his rise to the big time. I do try to get up to date with the oldies and have watched various highlight reels on all the old greats, but they just don't do it for me like the modern fights.

I appreciate what they have achieved, but they don't entertain me at all.

But I've only been a serious boxing fan for less than 10 years, so the young and casual is more right.

Just love boxing to be honest!

Watched loads last night, British Boxing Heroes, Mayweather vs Mosley and Mayweaher vs Marquez. Really need a super fight now though, everything has been a bit slow this year as fighters try to find the easiest fight to fill their one a year quota.

[TitoFan]

I've been thinking about this more, was thinking last night while watching a Bruno classic show, showing his rise to the big time. I do try to get up to date with the oldies and have watched various highlight reels on all the old greats, but they just don't do it for me like the modern fights.

I appreciate what they have achieved, but they don't entertain me at all.

But I've only been a serious boxing fan for less than 10 years, so the young and casual is more right.

Just love boxing to be honest!

Watched loads last night, British Boxing Heroes, Mayweather vs Mosley and Mayweaher vs Marquez. Really need a super fight now though, everything has been a bit slow this year as fighters try to find the easiest fight to fill their one a year quota.

I sympathize with you. If you go back VERY far in time, I also don't get much out of seeing the old style boxers. Especially with some of the old boxing rules. For instance, while I admit someone like Jack Dempsey was a boxing icon in his time, I've watched some old fight clips of his, and I also don't get much out of it. Boxing has evolved, just like any other sport... so it's not really fair to dismiss these earlier stages. However, having said that, I think you'd find the classics of the 1980's VERY entertaining. There was a sort of "golden era" in boxing back then, and some very very good fights were made.

[milmascaras1]

i've been accused to being a "racist" among other things by seemingly by some over-sensitive fans on this site. i've been told that i only like mexican fighters and that i'm this and that, yada yada yada. the truth is this, i'm a big boxing fan of mexican boxers AND non-mexican boxers. and i'm not going to apologize to anyone that i'm also somewhat nationalistic when it comes to boxing. anyone on this board who says otherwise is just kidding themselves.

when chris arreola battled tomasz adamek a few months ago, i was undeniably behind adamek. i'm a big fan of his and he happens to be polish. why is that? why did i root for adamek and not arreola? because i'm not a racist like i'm been branded here. for example, my favorite "non-mexican" fighters are:

yonnhy perez - colombia
vic darchinyan - armenia
michael katsidid - australia
timothy bradley - usa
marcos rene maidana - argentina
joel casamayor - cuba
floyd mayweather jr. - usa
shane mosley - usa
ricky hatton - england
miguel angel cotto - puerto rico
kermit cintron - puerto rico
sergio gabriel martinez - argentina
kelly pavlik - usa
lucian bute - romania
andre ward - usa
mikkel kessler - denmark
arthur abraham - armenia
carl froch - england
edison miranda - colombia
jermain taylor - usa
chad dawson - usa
klitschko brothers - ukraine
tomasz adamek - poland

one more thing, the reason i put down results whenever a mexican fighter fights a filipino fighter is because they, the filipinos wanted very badly to have this "rivalry". i personally don't think there is any "rivalry" because of the one sidedness between the two countries. maybe not on this site but in many other sites, they compare themselves to mexicans in everything. be it beauty pageants, boxing, etc...it seems as if they've got this obsession with mexicans.

[LukeH]

I once posted a thread similar to this, where I attempted to define the different types of boxing fans. Thought it was an interesting and relevant subject, so here I go again:

“Objective Fan” – Probably the most credible type of fan, with little or no nationality preferences or biases. Likes or dislikes fighters based mostly on facts, such as: fighting style, skills, record, personality, heart, excitement factor, etc, etc. Can find and discuss flaws in his own liked fighters, as well as good qualities in his “not-so-liked” fighters.

“Nationalistic Fan” – Likes or dislikes fighters strictly based on nationality. If you’re Mexican, you like only Mexican fighters and discredit everybody else. Same if you’re Puerto Rican, Filipino, English, etc, etc. Will make the occasional exception, but it’s extremely rare. Will try to pass off nationalistic bias for boxing knowledge.

“Young Fan” – Knows little about boxing history, and thinks boxing was invented with the rise of Mike Tyson. Knows or cares nothing about the past fighters. They were from “before”, so they were obviously no good. Tends to be boring after a while, when it becomes obvious he doesn’t know about past fighters and, even worse… doesn’t care to know.

“Casual Fan” – Cares only about the heavyweights. Anybody below that is a pipsqueak and “why should I watch anything other than two elephants whaling at each other”. Will talk incessantly about Mike Tyson, Ali, Lennox Lewis, and others… but knows didly squat about any division below that, except for marquee names and/or media darlings, such as: ODLH, PBF, Pacquiao, etc.

“Bully Fan” – Is very opinionated, and drives home his opinions harshly. Woe to those who don’t agree, who then get cyber-abused, from the safety of the bully’s keyboard. Usually writes well, aggressively, and normally develops a following within the forum. Gets looked up to, or feared, or both. Can be combined with other types of fan.

“One-Man Fan” – Is fan of only one fighter. No one else exists. Can border on obsessive behavior. Fills the forum with incessant threads and posts about his favorite fighter, but very little else. Normally becomes quite boring to read, and is summarily ignored and ridiculed. Lashes out at every other fighter.

“Hater Fan” – Picks out certain fighters for intense dislike. Gives these fighters absolutely no credit whatsoever. Will go out of their way to instigate arguments and exchange insults with fans of these fighters that they hate.

Obviously, I feel obligated to rate myself (truthfully). So here goes: If I were to truthfully rate myself within these categories, it’d be something like…

60% - Objective
25% - Nationalistic
5% - Bully
10% - Hater

I may seem very nationalistic in some of my arguments, but I’ve long established my dislike for some Puerto Rican fighters (Camacho, Santos, Ruiz)…. while at the same time establishing being a fan of fighters from some rival countries (Duran, Barrera, Pacquiao, Pavlik). I’ve also found faults and criticized some of Cotto’s decisions, and have admitted to his weaknesses and shortcomings, just like I used to do with Tito.

By the same token, I’ve seen the gamut of fans here on this forum. The 100% nationalistics, the casuals, the bullies, the haters, and all different kinds of combinations.

How would you rate yourself?

Difficult. I try to be objective, but at the same time I suppose I am a 'young fan' who doesnt know as much as other people, but can somtimes be abit forward with my opinions. I am pretty much completely anti-nationalistic to the point of being a 'hater fan' to almost all British fighters.

errr

50% Objective
25% 'young fan' (I wouldnt say I dont care about older fighters)
0% nationalistic
20% hater (to counter-act the above)
5% Bully


Can you be nationalistic to a nation that isn't your own?

[TitoFan]

I once posted a thread similar to this, where I attempted to define the different types of boxing fans. Thought it was an interesting and relevant subject, so here I go again:

“Objective Fan” – Probably the most credible type of fan, with little or no nationality preferences or biases. Likes or dislikes fighters based mostly on facts, such as: fighting style, skills, record, personality, heart, excitement factor, etc, etc. Can find and discuss flaws in his own liked fighters, as well as good qualities in his “not-so-liked” fighters.

“Nationalistic Fan” – Likes or dislikes fighters strictly based on nationality. If you’re Mexican, you like only Mexican fighters and discredit everybody else. Same if you’re Puerto Rican, Filipino, English, etc, etc. Will make the occasional exception, but it’s extremely rare. Will try to pass off nationalistic bias for boxing knowledge.

“Young Fan” – Knows little about boxing history, and thinks boxing was invented with the rise of Mike Tyson. Knows or cares nothing about the past fighters. They were from “before”, so they were obviously no good. Tends to be boring after a while, when it becomes obvious he doesn’t know about past fighters and, even worse… doesn’t care to know.

“Casual Fan” – Cares only about the heavyweights. Anybody below that is a pipsqueak and “why should I watch anything other than two elephants whaling at each other”. Will talk incessantly about Mike Tyson, Ali, Lennox Lewis, and others… but knows didly squat about any division below that, except for marquee names and/or media darlings, such as: ODLH, PBF, Pacquiao, etc.

“Bully Fan” – Is very opinionated, and drives home his opinions harshly. Woe to those who don’t agree, who then get cyber-abused, from the safety of the bully’s keyboard. Usually writes well, aggressively, and normally develops a following within the forum. Gets looked up to, or feared, or both. Can be combined with other types of fan.

“One-Man Fan” – Is fan of only one fighter. No one else exists. Can border on obsessive behavior. Fills the forum with incessant threads and posts about his favorite fighter, but very little else. Normally becomes quite boring to read, and is summarily ignored and ridiculed. Lashes out at every other fighter.

“Hater Fan” – Picks out certain fighters for intense dislike. Gives these fighters absolutely no credit whatsoever. Will go out of their way to instigate arguments and exchange insults with fans of these fighters that they hate.

Obviously, I feel obligated to rate myself (truthfully). So here goes: If I were to truthfully rate myself within these categories, it’d be something like…

60% - Objective
25% - Nationalistic
5% - Bully
10% - Hater

I may seem very nationalistic in some of my arguments, but I’ve long established my dislike for some Puerto Rican fighters (Camacho, Santos, Ruiz)…. while at the same time establishing being a fan of fighters from some rival countries (Duran, Barrera, Pacquiao, Pavlik). I’ve also found faults and criticized some of Cotto’s decisions, and have admitted to his weaknesses and shortcomings, just like I used to do with Tito.

By the same token, I’ve seen the gamut of fans here on this forum. The 100% nationalistics, the casuals, the bullies, the haters, and all different kinds of combinations.

How would you rate yourself?

Difficult. I try to be objective, but at the same time I suppose I am a 'young fan' who doesnt know as much as other people, but can somtimes be abit forward with my opinions. I am pretty much completely anti-nationalistic to the point of being a 'hater fan' to almost all British fighters.

errr

50% Objective
25% 'young fan' (I wouldnt say I dont care about older fighters)
0% nationalistic
20% hater (to counter-act the above)
5% Bully


Can you be nationalistic to a nation that isn't your own?

Good breakdown. To answer your question, I would probably say "no", although as often happens, there are exceptions to every categorization. You see... to me, a nationalistic fan normally assigns "fan points" to a fighter from his/her country right off the bat just for being from that same country. And there's a lot of pride involved. This is where the rivalries come into play. For instance, English fans are very proud of their boxing heritage, and probably feel a certain rivalry when a fighter of theirs faces off against a fighter from the U.S., for instance. Another example is the Puerto Rico - Mexico rivalry. Lately you also have the Mexico - Phillipines rivalry. Nationalistic fans will support and get emotionally involved in a fight, especially a championship fight, between a fighter of "theirs" and a fighter from a rival country.

However...... that's not to say that you can't "adopt" a country and become nationalistic, to a degree, toward fighters from that country.