It?s almost impossible for a non-American fighter especially one whose first language isn?t English to gain a broad acceptance in the United States. Just look at the Klitschko brothers. They have dominated the division since Lennox Lewis?s retirement and they both have knockout power yet they still have not been embraced by the general American public and they are heavyweights so imagine how hard it is for a non-American fighter in the lower weight classes to become a marquee attraction and a superstar in the States. It?s almost impossible and very few fighters have been able to develop an appeal where they are recognized and supported here not only by boxing fans, but by sports fans in general. Joe Calzaghe is a perfect example of the difficulty foreign fighters have in developing that type of general appeal. Joe was a Super-Middleweight champion for eleven consecutive years and won over twenty-two title fights and never became a celebrity on American shores. After his victory over Roy Jones, Joe stated that boxing was dead in the States and pointed to the dismal pay per view sales of his bout with Jones, but Joe was mistaken in his evaluation of the state of the sport in the United States and his theory has been repudiated by the commercial success of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, two fighters which have broken attendance records as well as pay per view sales during the course of the last few years. That?s the thing, it?s very difficult to gain a broad acceptance in the states yet Manny Pacquiao has, which is tantamount to his greatness as a fighter. Again just think, the Klitschko brothers are white heavyweights with knockout power that speak English, German, and Russian, and they still ar e not recognized as super-stars and yet, Manny Pacquiao, a 5?6 fighter from the Philipines who had a number of losses early in his career regularly appears on popular late night shows and does tremendous figures at the box office. It just shows how much Pacquiao has accomplished through out his legendary career which enabled him to endure himself to the American public. It wouldn?t have happened if Pacquiao wasn’t so damn special. Really during the course of the last forty years there have only been two fighters from countries outside of the states whose first language wasn?t English that became superstars and those two fighters are Roberto Duran and Manny Pacquiao. Some observers might theorize that Julio Cesar Chavez is another one, but he never really became a crossover star in the States, he just had the unyielding sport of Mexican and Mexican American fans which make up a significant percentage of population. Chavez?s biggest pay days were against Oscar De La Hoya and his bouts never hit the million pay per view mark. When Duran was at his best, closed circuit was the primary vehicle used to produce revenue so you can?t use pay per view to measure his popularity, but when he was close to 38 years old Duran challenged Iran Barkley for the WBC Middleweight title in New York and Barkley had been born and raised a New Yorker and Duran was so popular in the States that the crowd cheered the Panamanian on to victory. A similar occurrence happened in 1983 when Duran upset the undefeated New Yorker Davey Moore for the WBA 154 pound title. Duran pummeled Moore, a New Yorker, and after the bout Hands of Stone stood on the ropes as the fans in attendance sung happy birthday to him. During the course of the last forty years Roberto Duran and Manny Pacquiao are the only foreign fighters that have been so great, so special, that they were able to endure themselves to the American public.
