Where Is Boxing’s Household Name?

When I was a kid, the person in my life that I most looked up to, besides my father, was a boxer. My father was the greatest person walking the face of the earth in my eyes, something he remained to be until the day he died, but I am talking outside of him. My true hero at the time I was a kid besides dad was Muhammad Ali.

Pop used to kid me, as I got older, because of the fact that when I was five and six years old I referred to Ali as a superhero. My favorite superhero to be exact. I remember my older brother would tease me and say stuff like “He ain’t no superhero! He can’t fly and he doesn’t have any powers.”

But to me, that didn’t matter because as far as I knew, no other hero out there could Float Like A Butterfly or Sting Like A Bee, so I had him on a technicality there. Fact of the matter is, Ali was a hero to many. He was a hero to both young and old for a variety of different things. Some admired him for his ring ability, others admired him for his moral stand in the late 1960’s when he refused to let a government force him to go against his personal beliefs by refusing to enter the military and fight in the Vietnam War.

Even more people admire him for the fact he has been an ambassador to so many things in his life. Even after boxing, Ali has remained a role model through clean living, standing by his convictions and bending to no one. As a kid, I just loved him because he was loud, confident and man could he BOX! It wasn’t until I was older that I learned about the other things he accomplished or stood for. My admiration at the time was strictly for the fact he was heavyweight champion and he was the best in the world. That was good enough for me.

Of course, Ali is not the first role model in boxing we have looked up to nor will he be the last. It just seems that right now, boxing is missing that person. That one guy that serves as an example for our whole sport. That one guy who is a household name, the fellow who serves by being the flagship so to speak for our sport.

I can name one for almost every generation except our current one, and that tells me something; that we are doing something wrong. This says that our sport is losing the luster it once had to the mass public. So, if this continues for another, let’s say 10 years, then boxing will almost drop off the radar.

It is bad enough that almost no one outside the sport of boxing ,be it fan or participant, can name the heavyweight champion. At one time, that honor was the most important title in all of sports. The heavyweight championship meant more than the World Series, Super Bowl and Stanley Cup combined.

Yet today, it is a lightly regarded honor even within the boxing world. This is mainly due to the fact that we have no standout in the division but even so, from the prestige it once held to this? I think evaluation is needed, no? Can we figure out what we are lacking? Maybe if we compare some of our past greats to the fighters of today we can come up with some answers.

I am not going to go through every era, division by division, or else we would be here all day. I just want to give a few examples of guys that brought our sport to new heights by using their God given talents and ability. Fighters who became immortal in the ring and outside of it by giving everything they had to our game.

These men will always represent what boxing is all about. They will always be our role models, whenever they are mentioned, the golden moments of the fisticuff arts stand tall and proud due to their hard work. I will name five men who should be the example of all modern day fighters.

Five men who carried the reputation of the sport on their backs and are known to this day, long after retirement, in every country in the world for their achievements in the ring. Men that we need more of today. Hey, right now, even one would be good.

1930’s – 1940’s
Joe Louis, 69-3 (55): The Brown Bomber was our quiet hero. Joe was almost shy outside the ring and a man of few words. Somehow, America sought him out as their hero. Long before he even won the title, we looked to him for hope. When he lost to Max Schmeling, you would have thought it was you yourself that had lost.

When he avenged his victory some years later, he gave America hope. With Schmeling, a citizen of Germany and a representative of its people during the Hitler reign, you would have thought America had just won the war when the bout ended in TKO victory for Louis.

Joe ruled the heavyweight ranks for over a decade. We even loved his “bum of the month club”, when he would fight no hoper after no hoper. Yes, Louis was America’s face in sports for some time and became immortal in doing so.

1950’s
Rocky Marciano, 49-0 (43): The man known as “The Brockton Blockbuster” was small for a heavyweight. Standing less than 6 feet tall and usually weighing in at less than 190 pounds, he caught the attention of not only America but also the world. Time after time, he showed that it isn’t always the biggest dog in the fight that wins. He captured the attention and hearts of the public with his “all-out, come at you till one of us falls” style.

Something else made him very popular among mainstream America; HE WAS WHITE! The 1950’s were still prejudiced times in this country and the heavyweight title had been held by a black champion for more than a decade and a half between Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles and Joe Walcott. So, he was not only a great white hope but actually made it come true.

I still question exactly how good “The Rock” was, due to some of the less than stellar names on his resume and the fact he never beat a champion is his prime. I also think it would be interesting to see how he would fare in today’s era of big men, but of course that is all just a fan playing imaginary matchmaker.

Marciano died in a plane crash, 10 years after he retired and that elevated his status even more among the public as a cult hero, but to this day he is still considered one of the greats of this sport

1960’s – 1970’s
Muhammad Ali, 56-5 (37): He was known as “The Greatest” and when you look at his career, it is not a far-fetched claim. He won the heavyweight title three times, fought the who’s who of the 60’s and 70’s. Liston, Patterson, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Ellis, Foster, and Quarry… I could go on forever.

Ali made a statement in the 60’s when the government drafted him into the Army and he refused to induct. The clip of him saying, “I ain’t got no quarrel with no Vietcong” is one of the most memorable in news media history. After Ali retired, he remained one of the world’s most known figures. It is said that he is one of the most recognizable men in the world. He is the most recognizable athlete in sports history, that much is for certain.

Today we see the Ali who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and has a hard time even moving around. It matters none because we probably love him even more because of it. No matter who you are, you can’t help but respect a guy who has accomplished what he has. When he won the Gold Medal in the Olympics, I bet not even he could imagine what he would become. Ali is the true icon of boxing and will always remain that way

1980’s
Ray Leonard, 36-3-1 (25): He was the second coming of Sugar Ray Robinson. The young fresh-faced kid burst onto the scene and captured our hearts in the 1976 Olympics, winning a Gold Medal for the United States. Once he turned pro, Ray became a money making machine. His face was on just about everything you could possibly imagine, from soda commercials to anti-drug campaigns. He had the all-American good looks and manners to help keep this market alive for most of his career but it was in the ring, he impressed us the most.

Ray showed the world that he was more than just a face. In his first fight with Tommy Hearns, Leonard proved that he was one of the best fighters in the world, pound for pound, and not only could he box, but he could stand toe to toe and brawl.

There was not a kid out there who did not imitate “Sugar” Ray Leonard and with a total of five different division world titles, the admiration was well deserved. Leonard helped keep boxing alive in the 1980’s when the heavyweight division was on a downslide. He also helped bring the attention needed to the smaller weight classes.

During the span of his career, Leonard’s resume read like a who’s who of the sport. He later went on after retirement to form his own promotion company and now hosts the popular Contender reality television show but during his days in the ring, he was the guy everyone else wanted to promote and television helped bring him to the top of the sport.

You’ll be hard pressed to find another fighter who has been in as many high profile bouts. The Leonard vs. Hearns, Hagler and Duran bouts are that of legend.

1990’s
Oscar De La Hoya, 38-4 (30): He is “The Golden Boy” and has made himself a major player in boxing as recently, like the previously mentioned Ray Leonard, Oscar has become a promoter. His company, Golden Boy Productions, seems to be buying up every big name boxer that they can get their hands on. But it is not as a promoter that Oscar became famous, rather it is his time as a fighter.

He began in the early 1990’s after becoming an Olympic Gold Medallist and from day one, he captured the eye of both fight fans and the common Joe on the street. Like Leonard, Oscar has the look of a marketing agents dream. He has the public appeal that makes fans root for him, he has held a title in every division from super featherweight to middleweight.

De La Hoya fought in some of the most high profile fights of the last decade. Again, like Ray Leonard, he has proven that you can be a clean-cut nice guy and still be able to fight. Oscar has yet to retire and is fighting Floyd Mayweather in May of 2007 for a version of the 154 pound title.

How much longer Oscar has left in the ring is anyone’s guess but so far, his career has been nothing less than stellar. He is Hall of Fame bound and if he keeps up his current pace, we may have a new top gun when it comes to the promotional side of the business.

For one reason or another, these men have become the Icons of their era. Each for a different reason, but in a way, all for the same reason. Louis because of the era in which he fought and our need to have a superior athlete. Marciano because he was the common man and despite his size, proved that your heart can carry you through anything if it is big enough.

Ali? Well, because he is Ali and even with his gums flapping, you had to be intrigued at the skill and speed of a man his size. Most of all, because he always remained his own man.

Leonard and De La Hoya because they broke the stereotype about boxers. They proved all boxers are not pugs with loud mouths and no manners. Most of all, they showed what happens when you judge a book by its cover. You end up losing!

It has been some time since we have had a fighter that everyone knew and admired. It has been sometime since we have had someone that the kids can look up to and want to be like. Not that our current crop of guys are bad fellows; many of them have the same morals, convictions, skill and ability of the guys mentioned, but for some reason have not been able to capture the public like these men did in the past. They have not been able to break into the mainstream.

As of right now, our sport needs that one person. We need that one guy to help bring back the casual fan. He does not have to be the best fighter in the world. He doesn’t have to be the a former Olympic Champion or the little guy conquering the giants of his division with nothing more than a right hook and desire. He just has to be able to appeal to the common man.

Boxing needs that front runner to help bring back it’s popularity to those besides the die-hard fans.

What boxing needs is another household name.