List your top 10 most influential people in boxing history.

[IamInuit]

Fighters, trainers, promoters, whatever. Good, bad or indifferent.

[brocktonblockbust]

jose sulaiman
don king
bob arum
50 cent
dan goosen

[Hulk]

Ali
Joe Louis
Jack Dempsey
Mike Tyson
George Foreman
Oscar De La Hoya
Don King
Bob Arum
Both Sugar Rays
Jack Johnson

[brocktonblockbust]

jess willard
ken norton
jimmy ellis
chuck wepner
leon spinks

[beenKOed]

This is a great question and truthfully one I have never given any thought to. So I looked around the web and found a list.
About.com.Boxing Has a list of "50 Most influential people in boxing history", which came from Yahoo.sports.

Muhammad Ali
Joe Louis
Tex Rickard..Built Madison Square Garden.
Bob Arum
Don King
Sugar Ray Robinson..Voted greatest boxer of 20th century.
Jack Dempsey..First fighter to consistently draw million dollar gates.
Jack Johnson..Opened door for blacks in US.
Seth Abraham..Made HBO a major player in boxing.
Howard Cosell..?

The thing that amazed me about this list, other than the fact that it's all about the USA--another example of history being rewritten-- is that there are no trainers in the top ten. Personally, I don't care how closely tied to Ali and ABC Cosell was, he should not be at 10.
They give a few words for every entry. Hey, it's just a list. Check it out.

[Beanz]

In No Particular order here are 10. Maybe not THE most infuential but figures without whom the modern day fight game would be very different

Jem Mace - The original world title holder, the first global sporting hero and father of modern boxing. The Norwich man was not contrary to what people believe a gypsy but was an incredible innovator and ring artist. He went to the USA, Australia and New Zealand and taught from his own booth. Among his pupils were Bob Fitzsimmons and Peter Jackson. He was talented enough to be effective under both London and Queensberry rules.

Tex Rickard -The Promoters Promoter. Not only responsible for building Madison Square Garden he promoted Dempsey and regularly had gates of 1 Million dollar plus in the 1920's.

Hugh Lowther 5th Earl of Lonsdale for as first president of the National sporting club introducing the oldest and most beautiful championship belt in Boxing.

Arcel,Duva,Futch,Steward,Cus D'Amato,Dundee,Beristain, -The great trainers hard to single one out but I will go with Ray Arcel for the breadth of his great career. When you resume includes fighters as diverse and from across such a divide of eras as Benny Leonard, Roberto Duran,Larry Holmes,Ezzard Charles and James Braddock you certainly know a thing or too about Boxing and the man left a huge mark.

Joe Louis - The Master. Icon and Beautiful fighter for a Heavyweight.

Ali - Whatever you think of his achievements as a boxer and some of his questionable behaviour you can not deny that the spotlight that followed him around influenced boxing.Whether that was in inspiring a generation of boxers or overshadowing greater boxers in the eyes of the casual fan he has to be in the list.

Sugar Ray Robinson - A legend and superstar on both sides of the ropes. Truly GREAT.

Arum, King and Suliman for continually fucking it up and leaving boxing, boxers, the fans and everyone else involved ,taking a knee in exasperation.


Special Mention

Richard Kyle Fox and Nat Fleischer - Responsible for The Police Gazette and Ring Magazine.

[ray corso]

John L. Sullivan Heavyweight Champion of the World!
Jack Johnson Heavyweight Champion of the World!
Jack Dempsey the most influencial athlete of his time. More well known than Babe Ruth at that time.
Tex Ritter..........manager/promoter/matchmaker first that I know of who sold shares on fighters.
Joe Louis Heavyweight Champion of the World.....the best technical Heavyweight so far.
Sugar Ray Robinson welterweight & middleweight Champion. The Best Fighter of ALL Time!
Rocky Marciano ......Undisputed Undefeated Heavyweigh Champion of the World!
Cassius Clay/M. Ali..........Gold Medalists 3 Time Heavyweight Champion of the World! Greatest Promotor of All Time!!
Ray Arcel,Freddy Brown,Jack Blackburn, Eddie Futch,Georgie Benton, Sam Soloman, Pat Nappi, Angie Dundee, Manny Stewart,
I don't like promotors!!!! matchmakers either!!
I have to mention Ray Leonard Mike Tyson Oscar de La Hoya the three were influential personalities in the sport during their prime times!
Don Dumphy the best commentatory, and Johnny Addie the best announcer of all time!

lunch time! Ray. I'm sure I forgot alot of good people!

[bradlee180]

Jack Dempsey
Muhammad Ali
Jack Johnson
Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Leonard
Manny Pacquiao
Tex Rickard
Bob Arum
Don King
Jose Sulaiman
Oscar De La Hoya
Mike Tyson

[IamInuit]

In no particular order
Jem Mace. First man to apply the sweet science to pugilistic endeavor and beat the piss out of much larger men in the process.
John Douglas or the 9th Marquees of Queensbury. Although penned by John Graham Chambers his stamp of approval changed boxing from a grappling circus like act to what we see today.
Nat Fleischer. Ring founder and incredible historian
Ray Arcel and Whitey Birmstein The Tag team trainers. Love Whitey’s famous quote. “Show me a fighter that is undefeated and I’ll show you a fighter that hasn’t fought anybody.
John L Sullivan. Pure pioneer. Held the bareknuckle title before gloves and then won it with them.
Tex Rickard
Ali
Ray Leonard. First 100 million dollar earner and for better or for worse changed the face of prize fighting.
Sulaiman. For all the wrong reasons starting with the creation of 17 divisions.


I’d throw Poverty in the mix if it were a person.

[scribbs]

James Figg - First Boxing Amphitheater
Jack Broughton - Established Rules
Jem Mace - First Universally Recognised Champ
Marquis of Queensbury - Established Modern Rules
Richard K Fox - Police Gazette - Precursor to Fleischer & Ring Magazine reporting on boxing
Terry McGovern - Innovative style in Old Timers era
Tex Rickard / Mike Jacobs - Promoter of Big Boxing events - - MSG Honcho
Nat Fleischer - Ring Magazine establishing ranking & belts for all weight divison
Frankie Carbo - IBC Honcho who controlled much of boxing
Jose Sulaiman - WBC Honcho who changed some rules

Sorry that's 11 but couldn't separate Jacobs & Rickard as they were intertwined.

[bzkfn]

Jack Johnson
Sugar Ray Robinson
Bob Arum
Don King
Jose Suliaman
Muhammed Ali/Cassius Clay
Mike Tyson
Oscar De La Hoya
Frank Warren (For BoxNation, I've wanted an all Boxing Channel for years!)
Ricky Hatton (For what he did for Boxing in the UK)

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

1. The Marquis of Queensbury
2. Ring Magazine
3. YouTube

[TitoFan]

Good question, and good thread.

You said "good" OR "bad", so I'll go with that.

Muhammad Ali - His name's got to be first on the list. People who don't know shit about boxing still know and recognize Ali's name.

Don King - I'm not saying he's second on the list, 'cause from here on out, they're in no particular order. And he's not on the "good" side, either. But he has been extremely influential in boxing and the good he did for the sport's popularity cannot be denied, no matter how much of a scumbag he is.

Sugar Ray Leonard - He was the quintessential All-American, good-looking, smart young man who made good. Forget skin color. He made most boxing fans love him. Not to mention he's one of the ATG's, at a time when boxing was enjoying a time of riches in talent. He had not one, but several epic fights against other ATG's.

Joe Louis - One of the very best HW champs in history. But beyond that... he brought the nation together with his KO over Max Schmeling. Good over evil. America over Nazi Germany. A black man making his country proud. Too bad America was still embroiled in it's racist years... and the racist culture continued. So you could say that America was united in race during a few joyful days of celebration. The unfortunately it was business as usual.

Howard Cosell - Yes... he was abrasive and arrogant. But he was also intellectual and brought a cerebral aspect to boxing commentary which undoubtedly brought in a lot of fans. Love him or hate him, he was a polarizing figure.

Jim Lampley - Yes... the guy we all love to hate. Like it or not, Lampley has been the face of boxing on arguably the biggest TV network when it comes to boxing. His face and voice will be forever connected to boxing. Many young fans have been watching Lampley as long as they can remember.

Michael Buffer - Another surprising name to most of you. But think about it.... who doesn't know Buffer's signature line? Even outside of boxing. And looking at some old boxing clips, announcers were as exciting as watching grass grow. "In this corner... (yawn)... the challenger, weighing 160 pounds.... (yawn).... blah, blah, blah."

Rocky Marciano - Again, not the best. But who didn't know who Rocky Marciano was? How many parallels can be drawn between Rocky Marciano and Stallone's "Rocky"? He was the quintessential white, undersized, hardworking, Italian-American champion of the masses. Retired undefeated, which added to his myth. Mention the name of Rocky Marciano outside of boxing... and most people recognize the name.



I tried to stick with universal influence. Surely some fighters can be named, who have been influential in their own countries. Like Hatton in England... and Trinidad in Puerto Rico. But sticking to strictly global influence, I'd have to say those are the main names on my list.

[Master]

These influenced me.

Ali – Greatest boxer to transcend the sport
Tyson – my hero
Cus De Mato – magical trainer who created my hero
King – controlled the heavyweights
Arum – controlled the non- heavyweights
Louis – credit to the human race
Herol Graham – first boxing hero
Dundee – Ali, SRL and Foreman
Manny Steward – Kronk Gym and Hit Man Hearn’s
Nat – Ring mag for his historical insight

[armyash]

Jem Mace would be discussed a lot more than he is if he was from anywhere other than Norfolk i somehow think.