I'm talking about in terms of peak popularity and star power, if you could match any two fighters in history at their primes, what would be the second biggest fight in history in terms of PPV and global attention. I say second, because number one is painfully obvious... of course Ali vs Tyson. The two most famous/iconic figures in the history of the sport, of course that matchup would be the biggest in history. Second, im thinking probably Leonard vs Floyd. If you take both at their peak popularity and match them, you're looking at higher PPV numbers than May-Pac.
The ones already mention plus... De La Hoya vs Leonard De La Hoya/Trinidad vs Duran...would be bigger that DLH vs Trinidad..
Muhammad Ali against Jack Dempsey or Joe Louis would be huge too Dempsey was up there with Babe Ruth and Red Grange as the biggest sports stars of the 20s, and helped pushed boxing to a new level of popularity. Louis was obviously a huge star and his popularity in the US increased after beating Max Schmeling. Battle of the 2 Sugar Rays would be big.
Duran-Chavez might not have been the biggest global matchup ever, but certainly the biggest matchup ever in the Latin community.
Floyd vs Hearns...not as big a fight as some mentioned....but it will be the one fight IMO were FLOYD is guaranteed to get KTFO...or at a minimum get rocked often. Floyd vs Duran/Benitez/SRL I can easily see Floyd going the distance...winning rounds..maybe even winning(benitez) long shot but I can see it....against HEARNS I would pay $100-500 to watch at home on my tv...KNOWING that FLOYD WOULD get battered. I respect Floyd TOP 5-10 all time base on skills...just genius really. In all his fight...Castillo, Manfredy, Gatti, Hatton, DLH, Cotto, Mosley I wanted him to get KO/beat but DEEP down I really didn't believe it would happen...early on when we were sooo young and WET did I think Corrales could do it..but then Floyd took him apart...then Canelo he is such a violent mexican ginger salchicha I though he could cause some blunt force trauma on Floyd body.....but NO. FLOYD SCHOOLED the fuck out of him... but NOT HEARNS....there is no escaping for Floyd...shoulder roll, lead right, check hooks, left elbow/right cross...no..no....ohh hell NO.. In this one Tommy will quote Mike Tyson: "If I don't kill him it don't count"
What about the biggest fight that realistically could have been made? So that both fighters were still around, and popular. For example, Leonard vs Oscar could have been done around 95-96 but it wouldn't have been a big fight anymore. Is there any bout that would have been bigger than Frazier-Ali?
Considering how many spectators there would have been from Asia, it is a legit shout. It wouldn't have been Frazier vs Ali big however. If we consider just the attention, and comparing to Mayweather vs McGregor farce, a freak show fight such as Tyson vs Michael Jordan would have been huge
I know this isn't what you meant, but it is interesting nevertheless. Boxing is a peculiar sport in this sense. Nobody would pay to watch Tyson playing basketball, but in boxing, any nonsense can sell. The sport of boxing is bigger than its athletes
I dont think people would have shelled money for tyson vs jordan. e A lot of peope tought the irish clown would beat PBF. Thats why the interest was so high
