The only reason certain people dislike Sabo is cuz he replaced Ace. That has nothing to do with Sabo's character but rather Oda's writing.
Sabo is literally one of the few characters in the entire manga who is an overpowered badass that has normal parents. Ace's dad was the pirate king, Luffy's dad was revolutionary army leader, Dragon's dad was hero of marines, Sanji's dad is leader of Germa, etc... But Sabo got where he is through fodder blood running through his veins.
I personally thought Ace was a cool character (I love the cool big brother anime archetype since I look up to my brother so much), but let's be real here, Ace was a dumbass who got himself, his captain, and so much of his crew killed and in the process he almost got his little brother killed too. Sabo is a stronger, smarter, and better role model for our main character. Comparing him to Hody, the absolute garbage version of Arlong, is laughable.