beaujack wrote:raylawpc wrote:crusader wrote:But how do those factors relate to the amount of people that have memorized the image?
I can understand why it may not be a personal favorite, but in terms of 'fame' I don't see how any other boxing image comes close to it.
If you don't worship at the altar of Ali, it's easy to understand! Those of us who haven't drunk the Kool-Aid know that boxing began before February 25, 1964.
Well said ray ! All too many posters and boxing fans of today act as if boxing didn't exist before television and even Clay/Ali. They foolishly regard a Dempsey, Tunney, Louis as not worthy of
mention with the "greatest"..How wrong they are... Or a Robinson,Greb, Walker, Pep, Armstrong, Williams etc. All these guys let their fists do the talking...
That's true and it's one of the reasons why Ali-Liston is the most memorized image in boxing history; a large portion of today’s younger cohorts aren't cognizant of the earliest boxing stars, as these greats haven’t received significant media attention in years. I'd also like to note that I'm making points about the number of people who have memorized an image (the thread topic), not the impact or relative popularity of a fighter.
With respect to Ray's points:
1. Many people who memorized Dempsey-Firpo in the 30s/40s/50s would've been around when Ali-Liston became very famous. On the other hand, a larger portion of the people who memorized Ali-Liston wouldn't have encountered Dempsey-Firpo, as the latter became progressively less promoted over the years, to the point where it hasn't been heavily promoted for decades. The order in which the images rose to fame is advantageous for Ali-Liston.
2. I mentioned this previously, but the world is more connected today than any other point in history; an image that has been heavily promoted in recent years has the capacity to reach more people than it would've generations ago. While some posters emphasize that boxing was alive and well for many years, the ability of cultural phenomena to spread is much greater in the Ali era (which, to a degree, continues today) than the Dempsey’ era.
WTF
