Only 7 Icons in the History of the Sport

[bnovelist]

It just occurred to me as long as boxing has been around, 11 decades there has really been only 7 fighters that were really considered LARGER

then LIFE figures. I am talking about the fighter that captured the imagination GLOBALLY of the people from many walks of life. Why is this?

Out of the thousands of champions there has been ONLY & TRUELY 7 that really did it BIG.

1. Jack Johnson

2. Joe Louis

3. Sugar Ray

4. Ali

5. Tyson

6. Roy Jones Jr

7. Now Floyd Mayweather Jr

Now I know some of you are going to challenge this list but hey!!

These are the fighters in the primes that people knew their names as the best of their eras, dont play with me!

[punchoutsb]

No Dempsey, no care.

[Othro]

The other sugar ray and de la Hoya

[Chepppaaa]

It just occurred to me as long as boxing has been around, 11 decades there has really been only 7 fighters that were really considered LARGER

then LIFE figures. I am talking about the fighter that captured the imagination GLOBALLY of the people from many walks of life. Why is this?

Out of the thousands of champions there has been ONLY & TRUELY 7 that really did it BIG.

1. Jack Johnson

2. Joe Louis

3. Sugar Ray

4. Ali

5. Tyson

6. Roy Jones Jr

7. Now Floyd Mayweather Jr

Now I know some of you are going to challenge this list but hey!!

These are the fighters in the primes that people knew their names as the best of their eras, dont play with me!

back than there was no tv, no internet, no nothing....worldwide, global star, dont make me laugh, jack johnson or louis were maybe famous in the us, but global stars, not even floyd is a global star.

the us knows him, a bit of mexico, some enlgish people and some boxing hardcore fans maybe in germany. but overall floyd mayweather is centurys away from being a true global star, remembered basicly in every continent of the world, like cristinao ronaldo or lionel messi.

roy jones hr hahaha....the best boxer ever, but not very known to people.

only 2 boxers have ever become global stars, known worldwide and that is ali and tyson, true icons of the sport, the rest no global star.

[Badhusker]

Should be moved to boxers of the past section.

[scallum]

Oscar and Leonard belong, Roy Jones does not. Manny is probably close

[scallum]

It just occurred to me as long as boxing has been around, 11 decades there has really been only 7 fighters that were really considered LARGER

then LIFE figures. I am talking about the fighter that captured the imagination GLOBALLY of the people from many walks of life. Why is this?

Out of the thousands of champions there has been ONLY & TRUELY 7 that really did it BIG.

1. Jack Johnson

2. Joe Louis

3. Sugar Ray

4. Ali

5. Tyson

6. Roy Jones Jr

7. Now Floyd Mayweather Jr

Now I know some of you are going to challenge this list but hey!!

These are the fighters in the primes that people knew their names as the best of their eras, dont play with me!

back than there was no tv, no internet, no nothing....worldwide, global star, dont make me laugh, jack johnson or louis were maybe famous in the us, but global stars, not even floyd is a global star.

the us knows him, a bit of mexico, some enlgish people and some boxing hardcore fans maybe in germany. but overall floyd mayweather is centurys away from being a true global star, remembered basicly in every continent of the world, like cristinao ronaldo or lionel messi.

roy jones hr hahaha....the best boxer ever, but not very known to people.

only 2 boxers have ever become global stars, known worldwide and that is ali and tyson, true icons of the sport, the rest no global star.

Joe Louis and Jack Johnson were not known Worldwide?

[bnovelist]

I MENTIONED ROY JONES JR BECAUSE 94-2004 EVERYBODY EVEN THE CASUAL BOXING FANS CALLED ROY JONES THE P4P. AT SCHOOL,

BARBER SHOPS, BAR B QUES, ETC... EVERYBODY RECOGNIZED ROY JONES JR AS WHAT MAYWEATHER IS RIGHT NOW. DON'T GIVE ME

THAT

RAY LEONARD OR DE LA HOYA NEVER HAD THE MYTHICAL BEST IN ALL OF BOXING STATUS

[Broomhall]

It just occurred to me as long as boxing has been around, 11 decades there has really been only 7 fighters that were really considered LARGER

then LIFE figures. I am talking about the fighter that captured the imagination GLOBALLY of the people from many walks of life. Why is this?

Out of the thousands of champions there has been ONLY & TRUELY 7 that really did it BIG.

1. Jack Johnson

2. Joe Louis

3. Sugar Ray

4. Ali

5. Tyson

6. Roy Jones Jr

7. Now Floyd Mayweather Jr

Now I know some of you are going to challenge this list but hey!!

These are the fighters in the primes that people knew their names as the best of their eras, dont play with me!

back than there was no tv, no internet, no nothing....worldwide, global star, dont make me laugh, jack johnson or louis were maybe famous in the us, but global stars, not even floyd is a global star.

the us knows him, a bit of mexico, some enlgish people and some boxing hardcore fans maybe in germany. but overall floyd mayweather is centurys away from being a true global star, remembered basicly in every continent of the world, like cristinao ronaldo or lionel messi.

roy jones hr hahaha....the best boxer ever, but not very known to people.

only 2 boxers have ever become global stars, known worldwide and that is ali and tyson, true icons of the sport, the rest no global star.

Jack Dempsey and probably Louis would have been global stars as big as Ali/Tyson in their day, and probably Sugar Ray Robinson as he boxed a lot in Europe and again would have been a world star. They didnt have TV, internet etc but the radio was massive and millions listened to fight commentaries. Newspapers were also very widely read and boxing was an incredibly popular sport world wide.

I think there is case that could be made for Mayweather-he generates massive income from world wide TV companies, and also maybe Sugar ray Leonard who also transcended the sport.

[funso banjo baby]

roy jones and mayweather appeared during the final phase of boxing when it had started to become less popular as a mainstream attraction. pay per view heralded the end of the true global superstars who transgressed the boundaries of the sport.

a typical example would be the fact that most people who know very little about contemporary boxing wouldnt be able to name Jones or Mayweather...and wouldnt recognise their faces.

harry carpenter made a great comment about Ali to set him up above all others when he mentioned that at the height of Ali's fame he could have been dropped by parachute anywhere on the globe and the first person to find him would probably recognise him. only Tyson comes close to that comment.

Jones and mayweather? who

sad but true im afraid

[stevedoc]

I MENTIONED ROY JONES JR BECAUSE 94-2004 EVERYBODY EVEN THE CASUAL BOXING FANS CALLED ROY JONES THE P4P. AT SCHOOL,

BARBER SHOPS, BAR B QUES, ETC... EVERYBODY RECOGNIZED ROY JONES JR AS WHAT MAYWEATHER IS RIGHT NOW. DON'T GIVE ME

THAT

RAY LEONARD OR DE LA HOYA NEVER HAD THE MYTHICAL BEST IN ALL OF BOXING STATUS

this must be a joke right, roy ones was never that big outside america , leonard was much bigger i'd even put julio cesar chevez ahead of jones and duran too.

[JC]

John L Sullivan was possibly the first sporting icon

[Sklar]

Only Ali and Tyson (and Frank Bruno) pass the Auntie Peggy test.

[Impractical Poster]

Roberto Duran

And Trinidad for PR.

[IRLangmaid25]

Plus Julio Cesar Chavez in Mexico as well you can have in there.

[ttornado]

back than there was no tv, no internet, no nothing....worldwide, global star, dont make me laugh, jack johnson or louis were maybe famous in the us, but global stars, not even floyd is a global star.

Read about Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling, then see you if think the same.

Just because people couldn't see every fight there wasn't 'no nothing'. Newspapers had massive readerships and radio was major source of information

[jezzamundo]

back than there was no tv, no internet, no nothing....worldwide, global star, dont make me laugh, jack johnson or louis were maybe famous in the us, but global stars, not even floyd is a global star.

Read about Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling, then see you if think the same.

Just because people couldn't see every fight there wasn't 'no nothing'. Newspapers had massive readerships and radio was major source of information

Agreed. That said, I would revise the list by removing RJJ and Floyd - both have been famous at their peak, but aren't even close in global notoriety to Ali and Tyson. I'd say that Jack Johnson and Sugar Ray were probably a notch down from Louis, Ali and Tyson.

[Chepppaaa]

It just occurred to me as long as boxing has been around, 11 decades there has really been only 7 fighters that were really considered LARGER

then LIFE figures. I am talking about the fighter that captured the imagination GLOBALLY of the people from many walks of life. Why is this?

Out of the thousands of champions there has been ONLY & TRUELY 7 that really did it BIG.

1. Jack Johnson

2. Joe Louis

3. Sugar Ray

4. Ali

5. Tyson

6. Roy Jones Jr

7. Now Floyd Mayweather Jr

Now I know some of you are going to challenge this list but hey!!

These are the fighters in the primes that people knew their names as the best of their eras, dont play with me!

back than there was no tv, no internet, no nothing....worldwide, global star, dont make me laugh, jack johnson or louis were maybe famous in the us, but global stars, not even floyd is a global star.

the us knows him, a bit of mexico, some enlgish people and some boxing hardcore fans maybe in germany. but overall floyd mayweather is centurys away from being a true global star, remembered basicly in every continent of the world, like cristinao ronaldo or lionel messi.

roy jones hr hahaha....the best boxer ever, but not very known to people.

only 2 boxers have ever become global stars, known worldwide and that is ali and tyson, true icons of the sport, the rest no global star.

Joe Louis and Jack Johnson were not known Worldwide?

100 % no.

there was 0 tv or and big kind of media back than.

in europe or basicly in a lot of parts in the world there was world war 2

people had other things on their mind than boxing

and jack johnson, he was boxing around 1905, even before world war 1, there was 0 media, except some crappy newspapers, but worldwide star, by far not.

worldwide star, that began with media, with tv, later with internet.

ali, boxed from the 60 till 80. tv started in the 50, although i am not sure. ali did become famous worldwide because of 2 things. being a great entertaining fighter and talking crap.

in order to people all over the world to watch him talk crap and box they had to watch him on tv. ali in 1890 would never had become a global, only a us superstar.

tv made it all happen.

[Chepppaaa]

back than there was no tv, no internet, no nothing....worldwide, global star, dont make me laugh, jack johnson or louis were maybe famous in the us, but global stars, not even floyd is a global star.

Read about Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling, then see you if think the same.

Just because people couldn't see every fight there wasn't 'no nothing'. Newspapers had massive readerships and radio was major source of information

Agreed. That said, I would revise the list by removing RJJ and Floyd - both have been famous at their peak, but aren't even close in global notoriety to Ali and Tyson. I'd say that Jack Johnson and Sugar Ray were probably a notch down from Louis, Ali and Tyson.

radfio or newspaper werent close to what tv and today internet is. and back than most of the people were poor, only rich had radios. people had food or gettin threw the day, or basicly work work work on their mind, than sports.

and in so many parts of the world india, all of africa, all of asia, all of latin america people were struggling with life, they didnt know joe louis.

[giacomino]

back than there was no tv, no internet, no nothing....worldwide, global star, dont make me laugh, jack johnson or louis were maybe famous in the us, but global stars, not even floyd is a global star.

the us knows him, a bit of mexico, some enlgish people and some boxing hardcore fans maybe in germany. but overall floyd mayweather is centurys away from being a true global star, remembered basicly in every continent of the world, like cristinao ronaldo or lionel messi.

roy jones hr hahaha....the best boxer ever, but not very known to people.

only 2 boxers have ever become global stars, known worldwide and that is ali and tyson, true icons of the sport, the rest no global star.

Joe Louis and Jack Johnson were not known Worldwide?

100 % no.

there was 0 tv or and big kind of media back than.

in europe or basicly in a lot of parts in the world there was world war 2

people had other things on their mind than boxing

and jack johnson, he was boxing around 1905, even before world war 1, there was 0 media, except some crappy newspapers, but worldwide star, by far not.

worldwide star, that began with media, with tv, later with internet.

ali, boxed from the 60 till 80. tv started in the 50, although i am not sure. ali did become famous worldwide because of 2 things. being a great entertaining fighter and talking crap.

in order to people all over the world to watch him talk crap and box they had to watch him on tv. ali in 1890 would never had become a global, only a us superstar.

tv made it all happen.

This needs to be in the millennial HOF or something

[Brut]

I nominate Gerry Cooney and Tommy "The Duke" Morrison!! They see me Trollin, they Hatin, patrollin hopin they can catch me ridin durty!! lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed9dU4a-5Rc

[punchoutsb]

I nominate Gerry Cooney and Tommy "The Duke" Morrison!! They see me Trollin, they Hatin, patrollin hopin they can catch me ridin durty!! lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed9dU4a-5Rc

Why not Michael Grant and Tyrell Biggs?

[chad]

Just Ali and Tyson for me.

[Tarkus]

Just Ali and Tyson for me.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[ttornado]

radfio or newspaper werent close to what tv and today internet is. and back than most of the people were poor, only rich had radios. people had food or gettin threw the day, or basicly work work work on their mind, than sports.
.

Newspapers were massive more widely read than any single website, and radios were a communal activity were work colleagues or families would listen together. Internet is a massive resource so more information is missed by those not overtly interested. Boxing was also much more of a mainstream, and you're forgetting the cultural significance that the Louis vs Schmeling fights had which are without parallel in recent history.