The new breed of fans

[davidjay]

After watching a load of lads dancing around and singing in front of the ring while Steve Spence was receiving oxygen from paramedics at Dudley on Friday night, I start to wonder why we seem to have so many who are fans of one boxer rather than the sport. Without wanting to sound too holier than thou, they seem to lack respect for boxing.

BN mentioned it this week, so maybe one of our older posters can tell me when this attitude started. Was it when football crowds began to change?

[FrochPascal]

Idiots exist in the World..Alcohol and Drugs dont help the problem

[SeasideSlugger]

They see and treat Boxing as a mere punch up like they'd see down the pub, nothing else.

Sad really and those scenes at Dudley sound bloody disgraceful on any level, whatever you think of boxing.

Seem to remember reading an article on here about how "Fans" at the Benn McClellan fight were screaming "Fucking Die!" as GM lay there. It's always been there I guess but doesn't make it any more excusable.

[GazOC]

BN mentioned it this week, so maybe one of our older posters can tell me when this attitude started. Was it when football crowds began to change?

Around the time of Naz/ Benn. Boxing crowds changed a hell of a lot over those 5 years or so, a night at the boxing bacame a good night out for the lads (or even couples, which was unheard of previously).

[trotter]

True Gaz, I knew people who went to the Eubank fights etc when they were in Manchester, type of lad who watch cricket, football, Rugby... i.e. anything that constitutes an 'event'

I'm not knocking it though, this critical audience mass allows our fighters to get title shots and sometimes over here too

However in regards to the 'tribal' element the original poster referred to, i.e. supporting one fighter, that's gone on for years hasn't it? Again, nothing wrong with it (in principle) for me...

[BURNLEYBLUE]

It depends on the fighter Imo. I remeber when Steve Foster was fighting in the 90's the Salford lads that followed him would kick off at every venue but you dont get that at Jamie Moores fights today.He was a big ticket seller but if I remember right 'The Viking' was a pub landlord so maybe a different element of fight-fan was buying the tickets.

[GazOC]

I'm not being elitist or blaming Benn or Naz but I think the demographics of the people who attended big fights changed massively during those years. I used to go to a fair few shows in those days and before Naz and Benn blokes would never even have thought of taking their missus out for a nights boxing, but the end of that era gangs of girls were going there on their own!!!

[2tall2slow2]

It's nothing new. Minters fans didn't exactly cover themselves in glory against Hagler did they?

[GPater11093]

Around the time of Naz/ Benn. Boxing crowds changed a hell of a lot over those 5 years or so, a night at the boxing bacame a good night out for the lads (or even couples, which was unheard of previously).

not even the riot in Glasgow for the Ted Kid Lewis fight forgot who he fought though surely you remember taht riot?

its more football fans in boxing now. like the fans to have no football like chanting fights in Latin America have an excellant atmosphere and have hardly any problems

[trotter]

its more football fans in boxing now. like the fans to have no football like chanting fights in Latin America have an excellant atmosphere and have hardly any problems

I kinda know what you mean

But I'd be amazed if a large part of any British big fight audience, in any era, wasn't made up of men who also followed football...

[NO MAS]

I kinda know what you mean

But I'd be amazed if a large part of any British big fight audience, in any era, wasn't made up of men who also followed football...

I agree with the above... How many fighters these days are jumping onto the fact that putting your clubs badge on your shorts with get a few more punters in... Hatton - Man City... Barker - Chelsea.. Froch - Notts Forest...Does Frankie Gavin support Birmingham City?

[Vantage_West]

the delaney brothers wore the violet and maroon on everything...
yeah alot of it has got to do with football. and boxing being a fight instead of a sport.


i was watching the lindsey - appleby match and them peeps were almost jumping in the ring whenever a punch lands...all standing throwing punches into the air saying niceties.

didnt bunce casually walk into a fight with some irish boxing fans when he talked about how mcCullough was gonna lose at the top level...or somthign of that elk.

[GazOC]

Mark Kaylor was a big Hammers fan as well.

[Vantage_West]

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[kosaros]

the delaney brothers wore the violet and maroon on everything...
yeah alot of it has got to do with football. and boxing being a fight instead of a sport.


i was watching the lindsey - appleby match and them peeps were almost jumping in the ring whenever a punch lands...all standing throwing punches into the air saying niceties.

didnt bunce casually walk into a fight with some irish boxing fans when he talked about how mcCullough was gonna lose at the top level...or somthign of that elk.

This is twice I have heard of this incident and I need to see the vid of this!

[kosaros]

Well I have been to two boxing events recently and the crowds have varied. I went to Sunderland, which was part of the Hatton PPV, and there was quite a few idiots there. Firstly there were a load of women who thought it was a perfect place to 'show off' and tried to look there best, with them obviously not having any interest in the boxing. Secondly there were many people there who were not exactly boxing fans (half the crowd left when Munroe was fighting), which was evident when they were supporting McDermott because he wore a Sunderland top. Plus these idiots blocked the stairs and I had to leave early (before the Jeffries fight), due to the car park closing at 12am, which was a showing of their ignorance towards general health and safety.

The other event was the recent prizefighter tournament in London. This crowd was much more respectful and there was certainly more fans of boxing at this event and there was absolutely no trouble at all.

Overall these differences could have been because of the areas the fights were taken place, or the star appeal (Tony Jeffries) of the Sunderland card. Either way I noticed varying differences at each event.

[safc1990]

I agree with the above... How many fighters these days are jumping onto the fact that putting your clubs badge on your shorts with get a few more punters in... Hatton - Man City... Barker - Chelsea.. Froch - Notts Forest...Does Frankie Gavin support Birmingham City?

Think Gavin does support them, don't forget Jeffries with Sunderland, he is already huge up here.

[marty]

Well I have been to two boxing events recently and the crowds have varied. I went to Sunderland, which was part of the Hatton PPV, and there was quite a few idiots there. Firstly there were a load of women who thought it was a perfect place to 'show off' and tried to look there best, with them obviously not having any interest in the boxing. Secondly there were many people there who were not exactly boxing fans (half the crowd left when Munroe was fighting), which was evident when they were supporting McDermott because he wore a Sunderland top. Plus these idiots blocked the stairs and I had to leave early (before the Jeffries fight), due to the car park closing at 12am, which was a showing of their ignorance towards general health and safety.

The other event was the recent prizefighter tournament in London. This crowd was much more respectful and there was certainly more fans of boxing at this event and there was absolutely no trouble at all.

Overall these differences could have been because of the areas the fights were taken place, or the star appeal (Tony Jeffries) of the Sunderland card. Either way I noticed varying differences at each event.

These Jeffries/Sunderland fans hopefully can be converted to real boxing fans in time, and thats possible as long as there is an interest for them. Some times fans need to latch on to something or someone rather than the sport itself but we should hope they evolve beyond that mindset, I think:think

[scurlaruntings]

After watching a load of lads dancing around and singing in front of the ring while Steve Spence was receiving oxygen from paramedics at Dudley on Friday night, I start to wonder why we seem to have so many who are fans of one boxer rather than the sport. Without wanting to sound too holier than thou, they seem to lack respect for boxing.

BN mentioned it this week, so maybe one of our older posters can tell me when this attitude started. Was it when football crowds began to change?Ricky Hattons fault.

[Beeston Brawler]

There were plenty of idiots at Munroe vs Martinez II.....

[alba]

Ricky Hattons fault.


thewre is a lot of truth in that ,he seems to attract people who have a football fan mentality to his fights ,simple really .not a bad thing but they do my head in with there one song (winter wonderland) and it seems to be every other fighter fr0m the north of england has there own wee band of merrymen who want ot sing this song about there fitghter.
leave it for the football lads ...

[Beeston Brawler]

Ricky Hattons fault.

Do you blame him for the expenses row as well :think

[scurlaruntings]

thewre is a lot of truth in that ,he seems to attract people who have a football fan mentality to his fights ,simple really .not a bad thing but they do my head in with there one song (winter wonderland) and it seems to be every other fighter fr0m the north of england has there own wee band of merrymen who want ot sing this song about there fitghter.
leave it for the football lads ...Frank ******s fault. He packed out the M.E.N with those cretins on purpose because it was easy money.

[scurlaruntings]

Do you blame him for the expenses row as well :thinkNo. But i want all my money back from when he was on SKY during the WBU days.

[Beeston Brawler]

Hmmm......

48 months x average £35 a month.... £1680.00 + interest probably about £1850 ish

[boxgirl]

the delaney brothers wore the violet and maroon on everything...
yeah alot of it has got to do with football. and boxing being a fight instead of a sport.


i was watching the lindsey - appleby match and them peeps were almost jumping in the ring whenever a punch lands...all standing throwing punches into the air saying niceties.

didnt bunce casually walk into a fight with some irish boxing fans when he talked about how mcCullough was gonna lose at the top level...or somthign of that elk. I was at this fight appleby v lindsay and i have never been at a fight when the crowd were baiting for blood the way the irish fans were , there were some kids at the fight and they were gettin abuse hurled at them in the same way they were hurling threats and abuse at grown men , i know one scottish girl got punched in the face from an irish guy for supporting appleby, i have been to loads of fights over the years and never ever have i felt the way i felt that night, they even set off the fire alarms so tht the scottish crowd would get put outside but the security had the sense to put them all out the back door for there own safety . i could go to the fights years ago and it was a diffrent feeling you knew you were gonna have a good night out and see some brilliant fights , Now it is more aggresive outside the ring than what it ever was .

[PaddyD1983]

If my understanding is correct, the orginal question was about fight fans now being tribal and following a boxer rather than just being interested in the fight?

If this is the case then I think this occurred as soon as boxing dropped from terrestrial tv! As soon as this happened most working class fans had to pick or chose which fights to watch and which ones not to watch (either PPV or just going out somewhere to watch it as they dont have sky). I know that this certainly happened with my Dad. He was a massive boxing fan but as soon it dropped off ITV/BBC he lost touch as he refused to pay for Sky. As a result, the only fights he seen were the ones he chose to make the effort to watch.

The same now really, there is too little on terrestrial TV and even some of the shows on Sky/Setanta/Eurosport you have to go out to look for. As a result, fight fans like us see loads of boxing because we're the mugs that subscribe to it all. Whereas casual fight fans pick and chose. As a result, if they are please with one fight, they'll pick the same fighter again to avoid the risk of being disappointed.

I know a lot of lads who only watched Hatton early doors because they enjoyed his fights and wouldnt risk paying to watch or taking the time out to watch anyone else in case the fight was poo. As such, they became Hatton fans rather than fight fans. (Just using this as an example, the same applies to any other boxer before the boo boys get excited).

If I've misunderstood and the question is why do fans these days bay for blood? Or why are most fans football fans? Then I'm afraid nothing has changed. Always been that way. As mentioed earlier, some people are just muppets. As for the football link - both are traditionally working class sports. No shocker they share a fan base.

[GPater11093]

I kinda know what you mean

But I'd be amazed if a large part of any British big fight audience, in any era, wasn't made up of men who also followed football...

I agree with the above... How many fighters these days are jumping onto the fact that putting your clubs badge on your shorts with get a few more punters in... Hatton - Man City... Barker - Chelsea.. Froch - Notts Forest...Does Frankie Gavin support Birmingham City?

yes but in those days the fighters neverplayed to the football fans like they do now. And maybe the vast majority were football fans but they was also boxing fans. Nowdays alot of football afns go for the event.

like 3 lads down the pub

'aye bill got tickets for that Amir Khan fight wanting to go'

for example.

[trotter]

yes but in those days the fighters neverplayed to the football fans like they do now. And maybe the vast majority were football fans but they was also boxing fans. Nowdays alot of football afns go for the event.

like 3 lads down the pub

'aye bill got tickets for that Amir Khan fight wanting to go'

for example.


They did in a way... Kaylor wore West Ham colours as has been said

But it was arguably more genuine back in the day, as I believe it was with Hatton

Watson-Eubank was given the Arsenal-Spurs treatment; even though I'll bet Eubank knows nothing about football... that was just a cynical ploy (by ****** I think)

The recent spate of fighters associating themselves with teams is mighty cynical too

I think Lennox tried it as well with West Ham I think, but with his accent it was a non-starter lol

[GazOC]

Haye and Millwall seemed a little "forced" as well.

[BURNLEYBLUE]

Hoko always wore the Liverbird and came out to YNWA.

[GazOC]

Arnie in that fucking Roy Keane shirt.....;O)

[GPater11093]

They did in a way... Kaylor wore West Ham colours as has been said

But it was arguably more genuine back in the day, as I believe it was with Hatton

Watson-Eubank was given the Arsenal-Spurs treatment; even though I'll bet Eubank knows nothing about football... that was just a cynical ploy (by ****** I think)

The recent spate of fighters associating themselves with teams is mighty cynical too

I think Lennox tried it as well with West Ham I think, but with his accent it was a non-starter lol

im talking about the 70s though

[EireFightFan]

This is nothing new, Boxing has always attracted fans from each end of the spectrum. Back in the day 'the fancy' was comprised in equal parts of the aristocracy and cutthroats. scumbags will always want to attach themselves to something that is perceived as violent and macho. hopefully the majority will jump on the MMA bandwagon and leave Boxing for those who appreciate the science as much as the danger.

[NO MAS]

Arnie in that fucking Roy Keane shirt.....;O)

That was the fight when Takaloo KO'd him :roll: That was a great card at the Velodrome that night... :good

[Evil Rich]

If my understanding is correct, the orginal question was about fight fans now being tribal and following a boxer rather than just being interested in the fight?

If this is the case then I think this occurred as soon as boxing dropped from terrestrial tv! As soon as this happened most working class fans had to pick or chose which fights to watch and which ones not to watch (either PPV or just going out somewhere to watch it as they dont have sky). I know that this certainly happened with my Dad. He was a massive boxing fan but as soon it dropped off ITV/BBC he lost touch as he refused to pay for Sky. As a result, the only fights he seen were the ones he chose to make the effort to watch.

The same now really, there is too little on terrestrial TV and even some of the shows on Sky/Setanta/Eurosport you have to go out to look for. As a result, fight fans like us see loads of boxing because we're the mugs that subscribe to it all. Whereas casual fight fans pick and chose. As a result, if they are please with one fight, they'll pick the same fighter again to avoid the risk of being disappointed.

I know a lot of lads who only watched Hatton early doors because they enjoyed his fights and wouldnt risk paying to watch or taking the time out to watch anyone else in case the fight was poo. As such, they became Hatton fans rather than fight fans. (Just using this as an example, the same applies to any other boxer before the boo boys get excited).

If I've misunderstood and the question is why do fans these days bay for blood? Or why are most fans football fans? Then I'm afraid nothing has changed. Always been that way. As mentioed earlier, some people are just muppets. As for the football link - both are traditionally working class sports. No shocker they share a fan base.

Quality, sensible and well thought out view...you shouldn't be on here. :nono

[PaddyD1983]

Quality, sensible and well thought out view...you shouldn't be on here. :nono

I often think I go under appreciated.

[saturday_kid]

a lot of the times also to bair its the mates, lads from the same area of their boxer that can cause trouble,remember most boxers come from tough areas. i know this has been the case with a fair few local fighters recently.

also tho the fact is boxers need these followers/fansven if they arent actual boxing fans. if a fighter can sell 200 tickets he is a lot more likely 2 be on the bill.