Ricky Hatton ,the most popular sportsman ever ?

[Mark TKO]

Big Frank was pretty popular across whole UK.

He never had the fanbase that Hatton did for fights in Vegas but I reckon he was universally more popular.

I think its probably that deep down even though we loved him we all knew he was shite

...which is probably why no one ever went to Vegas to see him

[Saddo]

Big Frank was pretty popular across whole UK.

He never had the fanbase that Hatton did for fights in Vegas but I reckon he was universally more popular.

I think its probably that deep down even though we loved him we all knew he was shite

...which is probably why no one ever went to Vegas to see him

he had a massive following when he went over to fight Tyson the second time.

educated Don King bigtime on the money and crowds he pulled over there... not sure of the numbers but there was more than tyson had on that night and they all sung....


theres only one frank bruno... one frank bruno, walking along singing a song walking in a bruno wonderland.

i think they thought the english where mad when they first heard the UK fans singing that song... bruno went on the get sparked out by tyson early so maybe that song is jinxed

[Kirkland Laing]

Carl Fogerty holds the record for biggest number of Brits abroad to watch an individual sportsman, I forget how many but over 100 000. He rides a motorbike apparently, or at least used to. The average Brit would only be dimly aware of him, same with Hatton. Hatton is popular among a subsection of sports fans, is recognisable to a larger chunk of the overall population, that's it.

[JazMerkin]

He's nowhere near the most popular sportsman ever. Maybe the most popular British boxer ever, but that's as far as I would go. I think the most popular sportsman ever would be between Ali, Maradona, Pele & Sachin Tendulkar (if you don't believe me go to India). Ali probably gets it for a worldwide following although it is largely motivated by what he did outside the ring.

[Kel]

I think he is just as well known as guys like Mike Tyson, Ayrton Senna, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan etc

[RP33]

I think he is just as well known as guys like Mike Tyson, Ayrton Senna, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan etc

Not even close.. Maybe in the UK he is, but to say the most popular ever, i assume we're including the rest of the earth.. and there are plenty, PLENTY people who don't know who ricky hatton is in the US.. and i'm not even talking about older generations of sports fans, i'm saying various generations.. the mayweather/hatton fight helped him because it exposed him quite a bit more, but no bars here ever show PPV's or HBO/Showtime boxing so forget it..

tiger woods and michael jordan are popular obviously because of their sports, but also because of their commercial spots and prime time TV spots.. when you see one of their faces in a commercial, you know who it is.. if it was Hatton, forget it, maybe one person in a room of 8 people would know who it was.