Quote Originally Posted by Taeth
I name a hundred boxers more influential than him not to mention 500 soccer/football players, 500 american football players, 200 basketball players, 50 hockey players, 50 tenis players, 500 baseball players, etc.
While this is obviously a joke (but so are most lists decided by a small, but populist population), Calzaghe is surely a bigger sporting icon in Britain than just about any american football player, basketball player, hockey player or baseball player in history.

Yes, you can find a handfuld of exceptions - the likes of Michael Jordan or Babe Ruth to name two - but those are exceptions, rather than the rule.