So who's the next "great American hope" in boxing?

[TitoFan]

Look, I have been following this sport for over 40 years and Tito has a point. Of course in my early fan days I would tune in because I loved the sport at an early age but I also wanted to see Ali's head get knocked off by Chuvalo. I never liked Ali and a big part of attention to the sport was at the time seeing his demise. I remember the feeling in the theatre 48 miles from the American border and able to watch Frasier/Ali 1 for about 5 bucks.

I never liked Tyson but certain fights made me pay money to watch prior to streams in the hopes of seeing him cold cocked. And I'm no casual fan.

Same with Floyd and Hopkins whom I hated for years. I have not ordered a ppv in several years because of streams but seeing these two lose did effect the time spent on finding a feed as well as a fundamental love of the sport.

No doubt in my mind that many ppv purchases are made with a desired loser in mind.

Anyone who denies "want" as a condition to following the sport is lapse in judgment.

So @IamInuit who do you see in the horizon as being, not only the next U.S. boxing star..... but being generally liked as well? That's a tough question, because it seems the trend lately is toward the Tyson, Judah, Mayweather, Broner types. I think Berto has the personality.... but he seems to have dropped off the map.

Good question. Many seem drawn to the asshole types in sport generally and add fisticuffs to the equation and it kinda fits. Russell Jr seems ok and so does Benavidez. Berto almost seems to nice a guy.

But your point is well taken, and at least you seemed to understand the intent of the thread. We're not talking just the boxing part of the equation. We're talking overall personna. I remember Ray Leonard having that squeaky clean image. Olympic gold medalist, all-time boxing great, career defining fights. Why do you think he was so sought after for commercial endorsements as well? How many commercials did Tyson make? Or Mayweather?

When I originally started the thread, the intent was to identify who would be the next Sugar Ray Leonard, if you will. Household name.... good image... etc, etc. I mentioned Pavlik, because at the time he seemed to fit the mold. Humble beginnings... down-to-earth character.... seemingly vast potential. But his star burned out shortly thereafter.... and now the American press is hungry for that next American star who is mostly "universally liked". That alone disqualifies Floyd Mayweather Jr.