Hatton V Mayweather - Dec 8

@akinalabi,

I think we have come a long way since we started these exchanges. Don`t forget that my interpretation of what I saw and read in England started this. You saw the pre-fight coverage as a show of patriotism by the British media in support of one of their own. I didn`t! But in your last piece, you have come to see those antics as a form of entertainment. I will tell you why that argument is weak. In the first place, the bone of contention was never what both camps did; it was what the British media did. I wouldn`t have criticized the British press if the jaundiced views I read had come from one of the contestants. But, more importantly, why should we choose to entertain by saying demeaning things about one boxer and not the other? In other words, if we chose to entertain, why didn`t we do that by mentioning some of the short-comings of Ricky Hatton as a human being ? Or are you saying that Hatton did not have any flaws in his own character, before that fight? Why wasn`t that a talking-point as well ? Well, you have said that Mayweather was a boxing genius before last Saturday, but don`t you know any other thing (s) that he did before last Saturday that could have been praised ? One of the characteristics of the black race is that we are only interested in instant gratification-which gives birth to extreme selfishness. So we are only interested in what can give us instant profit. But here is a guy that always remembers the homeless and the downtrodden at Christmas, making sure they are well-fed through his charity. Why didn`t they mention this in the build-up to that fight ? How many hungry people is Ricky Hatton feeding in Britain that makes him a better guy than Mayweather ?
Akin, you have got to understand that I`m discussing this not as a bookie, in fact, I`ve never placed a bet on anything in my entire life. So, I just see this from the angle of a black man that is very conscious of how things work in the world.
When Nigeria won the maiden edition of the under-17 world cup in 1985, Kodak decided to withdraw its sponsorship of that tournament with immediate effect.
I was in the vicinity of The Netherlands in the summer of 2005, so it was not difficult for me to go and watch the final of that year`s world cup between our boys and Argentina. A friend of my introduced me to his 58-yr-old black neighbour, who was born and bred in South America. That man told me point-blank that, from the little that he knows about the world we are living in, a black nation is never going to win any world cup on European soil in his life time, but that wasn`t going to stop him from going to Utrecht where that final would be taking place. Well, even if you watched that match on television, you will still need no further explanation on why Nigeria was defeated.
I tend to laugh when my fellow Nigerians discuss their clubs in England and how much they love the Premier League. How I wish I could load everyone on a plane and drop them in West London, and let me hear them speak after just a month. Anyway, the number of black players in your starting line-up tend to dictate my own loyalty, that is why I was for Portsmouth, until Jose got to Chelsea!
Akin, the point is, we would not be having this discussion if Mayweather were to be of different colour, because all those inadequacies of his, that were magnified before that fight, wouldn`t have happened. Those great boxing commentators of yours would have concentrated on his dexterity in the field of boxing. And when a black person doesn`t see this, I tend to have problem with that !
Since this is likely to be my last contribution on this thread, I must say it has been nice chatting to you and the other guys. Cheers!

a good one for weather.

The business aspect of promoting a fight plays a huge role on how a fighter is packaged. Mayweather is best cast as the villain to generate huge interests in his fights. That was the case with Oscar and Hatton. Often the public feed into this persona, which in Floyd's case he actually encourage with his antics. Sadly, the white media as potrayed in England and to some extent in the US, due to subconscious racism fail to draw a line between promotional gimmicks and the real person when a black guy is promoted as the bad guy.

@ Teriba

I don't think and talk about skin colours when I
do my things.

I guess I have to rest ma case here.

Akin