In the collective mind of the public, which fighter in history is the poster boy for each division? This shouldn't be as difficult (although it's still debatable, hence the thread) as picking the best fighter from each division because we're really just trying to answer the question, "when we think of the <blank> division, what fighter do we think of?" Some of mine: Middleweight: Hagler Featherweight: Sanchez Jr. Welter: Pryor Heavy: Tyson
In the general public, yeah , i think a lot associate the division with Oscar Edit: probably PBF in fact
I'm afraid I've done my up most to not have to deal with the freaks we call the general public. I'll be of no use here.
Nice Thread DOUB! Generational/Stylistic Preferences Being WHAT They Are, Allow REED to Indulge... Heavyweight - Ali Crusierweight - Holyfield Light Heavyweight - Archie Moore or Michael Spinks Super Middleweight - "Y'all Musta Forgot!" Middleweight - agREED, It's Hagler Jr. Middleweight - McCallum Welterweight - Sugar Ray Leonard Jr. Welterweight - Pryor, agREED... Lightweight - Duran Primarily, but a SLICE of the Pie for Pernell Also...Like an 80-20/70-30 Split in Duran's Favor Jr. Lightweight - Arguello Featherweight - agREED Yet Again, Salvador Sanchez Jr. Featherweight - Wilfredo Gomez REED Didn't Delve BELOW Gomez's Weight Tooooo Often Until Posters Like Valdosta and Neil Shed Light in the VERY Early 00's...That Said, REED Enjoyed Watching the Likes of Jeff Chandler, Richie Sandoval, Michael Carbajal, Johnny Tapia, Ricardo Lopez and Mark Johnson PRIOR to That... Strawweight - Ricardo Lopez CLEARLY...Beyond This, REED Ain't Comfortable Putting Actual FACES to Any Division Below '22... REED
ezzard charles at LHW and most boxing fans recognize that jones jr was at his peak and no one was fucking with him there
I would personally call Foster the face of LHW. And yes, Roy is the face of 168. Even arrogant ass Carl Froch acknowledged Roy as the best fighter ever at 168. "What a fighter!" was his direct quote.
In the general public, id think carbajal would be by far the face of the 108 division. At least in America. Pretty much the only small guy that was popular over there
Shameless NUTHUGGERY Aside, Roy Jones was NEVER a "Light Heavyweight" Per Se, In REED's Opinion...Typically Weighed In Around 173 or So... Specifically, REED's Roy Fandom Spawned from the '88 U.S. Olympic Trials, When Roy Fought @ '56 or Whatever...To REED, Roy was CAPABLE of Fighting @ '75, But Never the FACE of That Division... Pre-Cruiserweight, Light Heavy was Boxing's "Aw' Shucks" Division...Just Ask Bob Foster, Archie Moore, etc... Spinks' BREAKTHROUGH Can't Be Overlooked, Being the 1st Light Heavy Champ to Also Win a Heavyweight Title...If That Doesn't Make You the FACE of a Division, REED Doesn't Know What Does... REED
For the Record, REED Picked Archie Moore and Michael Spinks as the Face of '75... disagREED on Ezzard Charles Being the FACE of '75, Since He Never Held a Championship There...It's Like Calling Duran the FACE of '40...Or Calling Roy the FACE of '54... REED
And???... Ken Norton Arguably Beat Ali 3 Times AND Held the WBC Title for 5 Minutes or So...Yet Norton Garners LESS Than Zero Consideration as the FACE of the Heavyweight Division... Roy's Obviously a CANDIDATE As the FACE of '75, but by YOUR Rationale, Antonio Tarver Should Also Be Considered, Right???... IMPACT On the Division Matters and it Almost Always Starts w/Being a CHAMPION In That Division... Archie Moore Reigned Forever, Had Memorable Wars w/Durelle and Others, Valiantly Challenged Marciano and Patterson for the Heavyweight Title, All While DEFYING Odds and Expectations, Achieving Sporting Success at a Much Later Age Than the Norm (For His Day)...That's IMPACT... If You Wanna Refer to Ezzard Charles as the BEST Light Heavy That Ever Lived, You Won't Get Much of an Argument from REED, But That's NOT the Topic @ Hand... REED
charles has the best resume out of all the light heavyweights. if there is some other criteria for face of the division then i dont care to debate that.
That's Because You're Trying to Be CUTE, CONTRARIAN and ELITIST... Obviously, There's a Range of Criteria Which Makes a FACE of a Division; Being CHAMPION In That Weight Class, For Example...The Fact You Don't Care to Debate it is YOUR Issue, No One Else's.... Would You Anoint Any Other Fighter "FACE of a Division" Sans a World Title in That Division???...Of Course You Wouldn't... If/When There's a "Best Resume Out of All the Light Heavyweights" Thread, Feel Free to FELLATE Ezzard Charles @ That Time...He was NEVER The "FACE of Light Heavyweight", However... REED
Only hardcore boxing fans know of Charles. No way is he the face of 175 in the mind of the general public
They Don't Know the NAMES Typically, But the General Public is AWARE of Divisions Aside from Heavyweight... In Most Cases, They'll Defer to Middleweight or Lightweight if Asked About Other Divisions... REED
Then your argument can be taken as Western bias. Michael Carbajal was never some huge mainstream star. He was a star in Phoenix, certainly, but not the nation over. Chang was an icon in Korea. Carbajal was never iconic.
Of course I'm taling about the general western public. I think that was Double was refering to, but I might be mistaken
HW: Ali or Tyson LHW: Moore? Tunney? MW: Probably Hagler WW: Robinson LW: Duran FW: Pep BW: Jofre? Olivares? Zarate? Fly: Wilde