Has Herbie Hide's nationality recently been changed from British to Nigerian? Why? I know he was born in Nigeria but he's always been listed and marketed as a British fighter throughout his career. I think it should be changed back, unless Herbie himself made a statement that he'd be fighting under the Nigerian flag from now on. Same as Michalczewski has made a statement about fighting for Poland.
I think the unofficial rule on nationality is that we go with whatever country the fighter learned to box.
There are exceptions like Lennox Lewis, who I believe learned to box in Canada, but prefers to be listed as British. I suppose in those cases you defer to what the boxer prefers.
I think you should also look for which national titles the fighter fought for. There are plenty of fighters that are listed as being African and fighting for let's say the French title at the same time. Doesn't make much sense to me.
Well, I asked Kostya Tszyu and he prefers to be called Australian, not Russian. He carries an Australian flag into the ring with him. He's an Australian citizen.
That is a generic statement since most fighters do not have the profile of a guy like Hide. Obviously you can easily figure out where Hide is from. For other guys, it is really where they started boxing professionally.
Exactly:
But as Tszyu never fought professionally in Russia and has been based in Australia since he turned pro, why is he listed as Russian?
This is inconsistent.
Ayub Kalule never fought professionally in Uganda, yet he has always been listed as Ugandan and not Danish where he started professionally and fought most of his bouts.
But I think that's exactly what tegenm said, there are exceptions. Tszyu and Kalule are obviously exceptions. It's difficult to be consistent in the subject because unlike other sports, a boxer does not represent a country when he goes in the ring.
