Who Would Draw More Viewers Today: Sugar Ray Robinson or Rocky Marciano

Each fighter has become a million times more legendary after their deaths, and 99.999% of people today never even saw so much as a tape of a single fight from either, just highlights. If each prime fighter could come back and fight an irrelevant challenger, who would more people watch?

I think SRR would especially with his style of fighting and being able to move through different weight classes....
With Marciano just staying at Heavy. and possibly (for the purpose of the thread) take a shot at a Cruiser title....

If Marciano - Walcott took place tomorrow, it would outdraw any Robinson fight ever could just because of his race and ethnicity, then throw in the fact that he is one of the most hardnosed boxers ever, yeah, Marciano definitely.

I actually think the numbers might be pretty close to even for these reasons:

A great White fighter will always have a bigger fanbase than a great fighter of any other ethnicity (Cooney had way more fans than Holmes when they fought).

However, Robinson is the greatest fist fighter who ever lived, and no matter what your ethnicity, the title of 'greatest of all time' will give you a bigger fanbase than any other title.

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Originally Posted by amat

If Marciano - Walcott took place tomorrow, it would outdraw any Robinson fight ever could just because of his race and ethnicity, then throw in the fact that he is one of the most hardnosed boxers ever, yeah, Marciano definitely.

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That's not what the question's asking. It's specifically calling on both fights to be against no-name fighters, as that is the only true way to gauge a fighters real drawing power.

Yeah I know and the answer is still Marciano imo. Just ask anyone who Ray Robinson is and chances are you get a lot of blank stares, Marciano is practically a household name even after all these years.

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Originally Posted by amat

If Marciano - Walcott took place tomorrow, it would outdraw any Robinson fight ever could just because of his race and ethnicity, then throw in the fact that he is one of the most hardnosed boxers ever, yeah, Marciano definitely.

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If going by this ideology, Marciano-Walcott would get demolished box office-wise by Robinson-LaMotta (especially after the iconic status of the movie Raging Bull).

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Originally Posted by amat

Yeah I know and the answer is still Marciano imo. Just ask anyone who Ray Robinson is and chances are you get a lot of blank stares, Marciano is practically a household name even after all these years.

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Sorry man, this is a flat out, bold faced lie. There isn't anyone who knows who Rocky Marciano is who DOESN'T know Ray Robinson, and vice versa. Thinking you'd get a blank stare when someone mentions Ray Robinson would be like thinking you'd get a blank stare when someone mentions Magic Johnson. ::**

No man I'm sorry but it's really not, case and point, I just literally asked my mom if she knew who Robinson was, she didn't know what I was talking about and then I asked her about Marciano and she said it was the boxer. Americans just aren't as schooled as they should be when it comes to boxing. Magic Johnson played in the 80's and 90's, Robinson boxed a long time before that.

Most of my friends didn't know who Robinson was before I showed them Robinson but they all knew the name Marciano and that he was a boxer. I'm not saying Robinson is some type of unknown, but he doesn't have the name recognition of Marciano. Say Sugar Ray and I bet you more people point to Leonard then they do Robinson unless the are a real boxing fan...which there aren't many of anymore.

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Originally Posted by amat

No man I'm sorry but it's really not, case and point, I just literally asked my mom if she knew who Robinson was, she didn't know what I was talking about and then I asked her about Marciano and she said it was the boxer. Americans just aren't as schooled as they should be when it comes to boxing. Magic Johnson played in the 80's and 90's, Robinson boxed a long time before that.

Most of my friends didn't know who Robinson was before I showed them Robinson but they all knew the name Marciano and that he was a boxer. I'm not saying Robinson is some type of unknown, but he doesn't have the name recognition of Marciano. Say Sugar Ray and I bet you more people point to Leonard then they do Robinson unless the are a real boxing fan...which there aren't many of anymore.

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No offense man, but I think everyone can see you're a liar.

I might be wrong, in fact I tend to be wrong a lot. Maybe Robinson does have name recognition over Marciano, but I'm not lying. I don't even see what I could be lying about ??? My mom? That's ridiculous.

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Originally Posted by amat

No man I'm sorry but it's really not, case and point, I just literally asked my mom if she knew who Robinson was, she didn't know what I was talking about and then I asked her about Marciano and she said it was the boxer. Americans just aren't as schooled as they should be when it comes to boxing. Magic Johnson played in the 80's and 90's, Robinson boxed a long time before that.

Most of my friends didn't know who Robinson was before I showed them Robinson but they all knew the name Marciano and that he was a boxer. I'm not saying Robinson is some type of unknown, but he doesn't have the name recognition of Marciano. Say Sugar Ray and I bet you more people point to Leonard then they do Robinson unless the are a real boxing fan...which there aren't many of anymore.

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amat, Babe Ruth played baseball long before both Magic and Robinson, and everyone knows him still. It's the name that is iconic. The name 'Sugar Ray Robinson' is part of pop-culture, much the same as Pele, Jordan, Ali, and yes, Marciano. Truth be told, each fighter probably would not be well recognized today by their face. I'd be willing to bet if you showed people a black and white headshot of each of them (and even gave them a clue that these are two historic athletes), some people might answer Willy Mays and Roger Maris or something like that ;D It's because, as the original post mentioned, most people today never watched a fight from either of them.

That was my point exactly though, you mentioned that if you showed a picture nobody knows who either person is. But the name Marciano tops Sugar Ray imo. Basically the only point I disagree with you on is that Robinson is embedded in pop culture. Based off experiences I've had anyways with friends and everything who knew Sugar Ray from the Contender. And then they just knew the name Marciano was a boxer but probably couldn't tell me if he was alive or not.

Not that I've ever brought up Robinson vs Marciano but that's just the point I'm trying to make. In fact, if you ask most people who the greatest boxer is they would say Ali. I don't think either Robinson or Marciano are embedded into pop culture but maybe that's just where I'm at or my age or whatever. But Marciano is such a distinctive name and he's so revered by white people (reminds me of Coming to America ;D ) that I think he draws more viewers.

For me it would be Rocky, everyone loves hard punching street-fighters

Robinson would be drawing tons of fans HOWEVER

Everyone loves a hard punching heavyweight who is unified champion of the world


couldn't go wrong with either one really

Truth is if it were today that Marciano fought he would not have been as succesful as he was....

Now before everyone starts getting all into the well so and so would lose to him ect....

Marciano as a heavyweight in this era just would not happen....Even if he made it in at 201lbs....Too much size and the laws of nature catch everyone....This isn't the old school when a guy gave up 20lbs Rock never reached 191 lbs...

Marciano would be more of A Gatti version of the big men...IMO he would rule the cruiserweights though

Robinson would be the P4P best at anyweight and he would fight every top name on the list...Ray was a master boxer who also could mix it up with success if need be....

Ray Robinson like his unofficial of P4P best of all time would be the top PPV draw as well

Well I saw this as a hypothetical question so.....

IF Rocky was a heavyweight today

IF Rocky won the fights like he used to

and IF Rocky's KO power worked like it did when he was the champ

Then hell yeah people would LOVE that....much more than a welterweight or middleweight who was extremely talented

robinson

I think Marciano would draw more.. But Robinson would do better in the fights.

I think Marciano would draw more. After all, he's the greatest of all time. :box3:

That is a great question, as Marciano's latest biographer (Redemption: The Life & Death of Rocky Marciano - due to be released soon initially as an ebook) I can tie these two together to an event that almost happened, after Louis' defeat at the hands of Marciano Robinson planned his revenge, first he was to fight Maxim for the light-heavy crown then he would move up to heavy and fight the rising contender Marciano before having a crack at that title too. As we all know now he lost the title challenge to Maxim, more through the heat than the superiority of his opponent yet still he hankered after facing Marciano in order to avenge his friend, that is until Louis himself advised him against it...It is a shame that the fight never happened because it would have answered many questions regarding these two legends...

Robinson hands down. I'd just pay top dollar to see Robinson at Mayweather vs Cotto so Floyd could tell him face to face that Ray wasn't the best there was. Honest question...would Marciano, seeing as how it's 'peak', be in at 195 or go to today's heavy?

Marciano would draw more.

- White
- Heavyweight
- Hit Hard
- Had that ugly brawling style like Hatton that casual fans oddly seem to like.

It would have been no contest imo.

Although, it depends how SRR was built up and the state of the heavyweight division if Marciano was in it. For example, we don't see Wladimir Klitschko outselling Floyd Mayweather's PPV's..Although the missing ingredient is that Marciano's fights were probably considered way more exciting than Wladimir's are..

Quite a few variables - I'd personally watch SRR all day long over Marciano

Why does everyone keep mentioning that marciano is white? I don't think that's very relevant in today's world. The biggest draws are an African American fighter and a Filipino .

If Rocky was resurrected through scientific cloning and fought today at cruiserweight he would draw more viewers initially. After that Robinson would get more viewers fighting the likes of Floyd, Pac Man, Sergio and Cotto. Those would be more interesting fights than Rocky v Huck/Cunningham.

Rocky would have decapitated Robinson if they ever fought. Lucky Joe Louis talked him out of it.

For me it would have to be SRR, that man had it all.

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Originally Posted by amat

I might be wrong, in fact I tend to be wrong a lot. Maybe Robinson does have name recognition over Marciano, but I'm not lying. I don't even see what I could be lying about ??? My mom? That's ridiculous.

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I honestly can't believe anyone is even arguing with you on this. Marciano, despite being nowhere near the talent of Robinson, clearly has WAY BIGGER name recognition, at least in the U.S. Chiefly because he was white; but also to some extent because he fought at heavyweight. I think the Rocky movies (despite not being based on him) also have something to do with it. People see those movies, poke around to see if there was a real "rocky" and quickly learn about Marciano.

You are absolutely right that most non-boxing fans think Leonard when they hear "Sugar Ray." And plenty of them have no idea who Robinson is. Sad but true.

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Originally Posted by Maravilla2012

Why does everyone keep mentioning that marciano is white? I don't think that's very relevant in today's world. The biggest draws are an African American fighter and a Filipino .

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If there was a white American fighter at 147 or above who had anywhere near the talent of Floyd or Pac, he would outsell them, guaranteed. Think about how ridiculously hyped Kelly Pavlik was getting before his career went downhill--way more than Floyd or Pac were at the time they won their first titles. Hillary Clinton appeared with him at a campaign event!

Of course, Marciano didn't have anywhere near the talent of Robinson. But most non-fans don't know that, and the poll question is "Who would sell more in a one-off fight against a no-namer tomorrow?," not who would sell more tickets 20 fights down the road once people became acquainted with them.