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My knowledge of boxing history is shamefully slim, im trying to think of fights that will be as big as the pacman/maywether. And im not talking about just money wise, im talking about general world wide intrest of a show down to be No1?
Drop some knowledge me.
Ali/Foreman would be #1 for me.
Joe Louis v Max Scmelling, 2 more people tuned in to that than anything. Not sure but I think the Moon landing is the only thing that beat it. It was massive. Plus at the Time Boxing was massive, someone should check the numbers Id be interested. ;D
Ali Foreman
Hagler Hearns
SRL Duran 1
Hagler SRL
Ali Frazier 1
Barrera Morales 1
Tyson Holyfield 2
All my opinion of course but they were all HUGE fights that are bigger or at least near the same level as Pac Floyd.
nothing compares to ali-frazier I. two undefeated heavyweight champions with one of them being the most famous man on the planet.
leonard-duran: duran already a legend and leonard the golden boy.
leonard-heans: by now leonard was a legend (having defeated duran) but heans, with his freakish body, was considered unbeatable (his chin had not yet been exposed)
odlh-tito: two undefeated welters in their redhot prime. should've been odhl shining moment but he disappointed by not closing the show. but it was hightly anticipated as these guys were better known by the general public than PBF and Pac, especially oscar.
leonard-hagler: very highly anticipated by the general public but they were considered (especially leonard) past their prime. exceeded the hype, though.
holmes-cooney: highly anticipated but mostly b/c of race.
whitaker-chavez: two best of their era, boxer vs brawler.
arguello-pryer
chavez-taylor: the boxing cognoscente were really into this. lived up to the hype.
Scrap mentioned Louis vs Schmeling, which probably is the biggest fight of all time, although I think Dempsey vs Carpentier had a buzz at least of equal to the Pacquiao-Mayweather matchup.
In the post-war era, I'd say the biggest were Ali-Frazier I, Ali-Foreman & Leonard-Hagler, although Duran-Leonard II, Tyson-Holyfield II & Oscar-Floyd were hugely hyped as well, even if the fights did disappoint.
pretty much all these. good listQuote:
Originally Posted by Manju
ali-forman was certainly highly anticipated, but foreman was the far and awway favorite, so it didn't have quiite the dynamics that this (pac vs PBF) has.
I like the list mate!Quote:
Originally Posted by Manju
All of those were fights that became great. Hagler-Hearns was pretty big, but not really considered any bigger pre-fight than the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, you have to remember this is the fight that made Hagler a star.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kel
The first Leonard-Duran fight was quite hyped, but not as much as the rematch, as it was beating Leonard that made Duran a household name. Think kind of like Pacquiao before the De La Hoya fight, a good fighter, but not someone your average person knew.
Barrera-Morales I wasn't hyped at all outside of the Mexican & boxing community. It was never a fight your average person in the street was interested in. If you listen the commentary for the second fight, they say how the seats became 5 times as expensive for the rematch.
More judged on the actual outcome I suppose in terms of me mentioning it. There was some cracking build up material though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manju
I see what you're saying, but I think the fact it was in Zaire, gave it an exoticism, hence why it became so huge. Foreman was this wrecking ball of a fighter, whilst Ali was still the star he was, which all combined made it huge. Huge enough that Don King was able to go from nothing to the most powerful promoter alive for the next 20 odd years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manju
Yeah I agree on second thoughts, I maybe put them up because the actual fight was great. Just what came to mind, mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by JazMerkinAll of those were fights that became great. Hagler-Hearns was pretty big, but not really considered any bigger pre-fight than the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, you have to remember this is the fight that made Hagler a star.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kel
The first Leonard-Duran fight was quite hyped, but not as much as the rematch, as it was beating Leonard that made Duran a household name. Think kind of like Pacquiao before the De La Hoya fight, a good fighter, but not someone your average person knew.
Barrera-Morales I wasn't hyped at all outside of the Mexican & boxing community. It was never a fight your average person in the street was interested in. If you listen the commentary for the second fight, they say how the seats became 5 times as expensive for the rematch.