Ranking the Best Cities for a Boxing Fight Outside of the United States

Atmosphere can make or break seeing a fight live and in person. Of course the quality of the matches and boxers helps as well, but many times if you have a bad seat up in the nose-bleeds then the atmosphere is everything.

The singing, the chanting, the waving of flags, cheering and booing are all part of the fun and can turn attending a good sporting event into a memory that will stay with you for life.

I'm not a huge fan of his, but who didn't love hearing the "There's only one Ricky Hatton" song being sung out by the massive crowd at all of his fights? Of course by about Round 9 or Round 10 it became old, but still the passion on display from the fans was impressive, and stuff like that improves the atmosphere for major fights.

Quick disclaimer before we get on to the ranking: I've only been to one of these cities, so this is very much an outsider's view. Basically I'm approaching it as which cities and venues I would most like to visit and buy a ticket to be in the audience for a major fight.

5. Macau, China

Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press

The Cotai Arena at the Venetian Resort in Macau, China, has become like a Las Vegas across the Pacific for top fighters such as Manny Pacquiao and rising stars such as Zou Shiming.

Both fighters were in action on November 22 when they sold out the Cotai Arena with more than 13,000 fans in attendance. The match was Pacquiao's second fight in the city of Macau—November 2013 against Brandon Rios being the other—while Shiming has fought all six of his professional matches there.

Everything about the area seems very upscale, very showbiz-oriented and like it would be pretty easy to have a good time while visiting the city during a big fight weekend; just like Vegas.

4. Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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The Bell Centre has been the frequent home for most major fights involving Canadian boxing stars such as Adonis Stevenson and Jean Pascal.

Located in Montreal, the Bell Centre is home to NHL team the Montreal Canadiens, can hold tons of fans for major fights and is one of the busiest arenas in the entire world with events across all forms of entertainment taking place under its roof.

For the Pascal vs. Lucian Bute match early in 2014, over 20,000 fans packed the arena to watch the fight. The citizens of Canada may have the reputation of being very polite, but as a crowd for a boxing match, they seemed very into it and were very loud; great venue for a fight.

3. Hamburg, Germany

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Many cities in Germany could have been chosen for this spot, but I picked Hamburg for how well they support and pack arenas for a boxer many fans believe fights a boring style; that boxer of course being heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

The O2 World Arena in Hamburg, Germany, is primarily used to host hockey, handball and major concerts, but Klitschko's last fight against Kubrat Pulev produced a sell-out crowd of around 15,000 fans.

The elaborate nature of Klitschko's ring-walk entrance seemed to help make the atmosphere even more lively, but all the fans were screaming, and most of them were waving flags from what I could tell whenever HBO would show a shot of the crowd.

2. Mexico City, Mexico

Dario Lopez-Mills/Associated Press

An argument could be made that no other country in the world loves the sport of boxing more than Mexico. Its passion is exciting, over-the-top and flows over to fights that I attend here in Houston such as when Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fought Peter Manfredo Jr. at the Reliant Arena in November 2011.

For those of you unfamiliar with Houston, Reliant Arena—now called NRG Arena after the name change—is a very average venue both in terms of its size and accommodations, but the Mexican fans packed that arena and were very vocal during the match despite it being a massive mismatch.

Unfortunately in America sports like football, basketball, baseball and arguably even auto racing and MMA have passed boxing up in terms of popularity, but in countries such as Mexico the sport seems like it's second to only soccer; the world's most popular sport.

Every fight I've ever watched or been to involving a very popular Mexican fighter has had a raucous atmosphere and has been a ton of fun; would love to watch a major fight at the Mexico City Arena where Juan Manuel Marquez fought in 2012.

That match against Serhiy Fedchenko still holds the attendance record for the new arena.

1. London, England

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I could have also included Manchester, England, where Ricky Hatton often fought, but to me London was the obvious choice to top this list after it packed 80,000 people in Wembley Stadium for Carl Froch vs. George Groves 2 back in May 2014.

After the Mexican fans, I would have to say the British boxing fans are a close second in terms of their passion, love and support for the sport of boxing. They sing, they chant, they wave flags and just go crazy in support of their countrymen and favorite fighters.

Seeing a fight in London, Manchester or any other major city in England is definitely on my bucket list.

Follow me on Twitter for more opinion on boxing and live scoring of big fights: @sackedbybmac