
Originally Posted by
erics44
this thread isnt going the way i wanted it to
maybe i should have expected that
from my point of view it isnt his race
When you ask an open-ended question, you're not going to hear what you want.
I'm not saying it is his race in yours or anyone's case (well maybe Otley's considering all the random 'immigrant' comments he throws in), but it's also worth noting that a lot has changed since Naz. 9/11, 7/7 & the subsequent demonization of Muslims is now vastly different so the old 'I supported Naz so I can't be racist' argument doesn't work.
Also supporting a boxer of a different colour doesn't mean you can't hold prejudices against that group. I rooted for Calzaghe every fight of his career, it doesn't mean that there's no way that I can be racist against white people.
Anyway there are quite a few reasons to dislike Khan (especially if you were a fan of one of his opponents), but I think with a proportion of people his race does play a factor.
So I agree with Koppas on that point, but I will also say that Khan's race gives him a legion of Asian fans who wouldn't follow him or the sport otherwise and that's what enables him to do 50,000+ PPV sales on a week's notice on Primetime, so it's a double-edged sword.
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