Is Pacman More Popular than de la Hoya Was?

[Kev]

I find it funny that people equate "popularity" to what is accomplished just in the ring. While that certainly may hold true for boxing/sports fans...an even bigger component of what makes an athlete incredibly popular outside of the realm of their particular sport...is how they are marketed. How you are marketed comes down to basically two things aside from your sport specific skill. it comes down to your persona and looks. How easily marketable can an athlete be...can their look/personality SELL things or get people who are normally not interested that particular sport to get excited about the athlete and the products they endorse. There have been just a handful of athletes that have had that tremendous cross over appeal. People like David Beckham and Michael Jordan come immediately to mind. Those are athletes that almost anyone...whether here in the states or in Africa...will instantly recognize. Not only because of their on field accomplishments, but as much for how widely marketed they are (commercials, endorsements, clothing, etc.). In boxing, it is particularly rare to find superstars with that kind of cross over appeal. Oscar and Sugar Ray Leonard (to a lesser extent)...are the boxers in the last two decades that have attained that kind of popularity. Pac certainly is popular among boxing fans and is obviously a supersar in his hometown. But he is nowhere close to being a global superstar. He simply cannot be marketed the same way as someone like Oscar. Not now and probably not ever.

Brilliant...
I can just about lock this thread up after this post.
Very well put...

For the record Oscar De La Hoya has NEVER been a household name in Britain. None of my nonboxing friends will have a clue who he is.

He's huge in America, and may well be in Spanish speaking countries to that share a heritage with Mexico I don't know. But globally (in britain at least) he's not even close to a Mike Tyson or Roberto Duran or an Ali imo.

This is very interesting about Oscar not being a household name there. Considering that Britain has a very good history in boxing and this is where modern boxing originated.

Boxing really isn't that big over here any more sadly. The two overseas fighters that everybody knows are Tyson and Holyfield. Then it would be Leonard, Hagler, Duran and Hearns.

De La Hoya, Jones Jr, Hopkins are not really big names. Actually Hopkins and Jones Jr are better known over here as they fought Calzaghe.

Pacqauio isn't a big name either to be fair. You go down the average high street and ask people who Oscar and Manny are. Not many will have a clue. EVERYONE will know who Tyson is.

Oh and Ali of course, and Foreman, possibly Frazier.

Sugar Ray Robinson is less well known than any of those heavyweight guys.