We never really ever knew why, huh?

We knew why Ali was popular- he was mouthy, political, Muslim and he stood for something. He also backed up his talks in the ring.

We knew why Joe Louis was popular- war veteran, string of undefeated title defences, defeated Nazi Germany via Schmeling, etc, etc...

But, there were a lot of guys that were champions before and after Tyson who we, quite frankly, could give a fuck about in the grand scheme of things- and we mean Lewis, the Klits, Holyfield, and Bowe.

So, what in the world made Tyson such a mega star and still revered and talked about to this day, despite all of what he has done and gone through?