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re: Which American athlete had the most worldwide fame at his peak?
Posted on 6/24/11 at 8:04 pm to Bench McElroy
Posted on 6/24/11 at 8:04 pm to Bench McElroy
Jim Thorpe
0
Posted on 6/24/11 at 8:21 pm to pwejr88
Tiger
Posted on 6/24/11 at 8:39 pm to Bench McElroy
quote:
It's Ali and whoever else is way way way behind
Even with the internet was being around then, I'd say Ali by a landslide. When he went to other countries they swarmed him like the Beatles. Check out the days leading up to the Thrilla in Manilla (v. Frazier) and the Geo Foreman-Ali fight in Zaire.
Ali was truly world-wide.
This post was edited on 6/24/11 at 8:46 pm
Posted on 6/24/11 at 8:55 pm to Bench McElroy
MJ, then Yao Ming
Posted on 6/24/11 at 9:31 pm to Dodd
quote:
MJ, then Yao Ming
Lionel Messi is as big as both. When Ali went to a country he sat with the ruler/president. No one is even close to Ali.
Posted on 6/24/11 at 11:23 pm to glassman
quote:
Lionel Messi is as big as both.
When Ali went to a country he sat with the ruler/president. No one is even close to Ali.
Completely agree with all of this post.
MJ may be as famous among sports fans but there's not an adult in most of the world that doesn't know Ali even if they don't follow sports in the least.
Posted on 6/25/11 at 12:22 am to wm72
It would have to be an athlete who fought - fighting is universal and it would have to be before the world was diluted with sports names and the technological age separating the industrialized world from the third world. I would argue that athletes were more famous when only a handful were celebrated or disseminated worldwide. In other words, more people might know the name Jordan in the Nike industrialized world but what about him outside of the channels of industrialized global commerce? How known/popular was basketball in the jungles of southeast Asia or the African Serengeti? Or the wealthy privileged game of golf for that matter? Most of the world is dirt poor and uneducated. What fame would Tiger Woods have for them? Why would they know who he was and to what extent?
So I'd say Joe Louis or Ali as 1A or 1B. They WERE the heavyweight champion of the world. (Which just shows you how far boxing has fallen.) Louis was so renowned worldwide because he fought and was celebrated during the tensions of worldwide war.
As for other athletes you wouldn't normally think about...Bruce Lee?
He was huge in Asia and Europe as well as the US. In his prime, he was renowned as "the world's greatest fighter." Whatever that really meant?
quote:
Joe Louis was heavyweight champion of the world in an era when the heavyweight champion was, in the minds of many, the greatest man in the world.
So I'd say Joe Louis or Ali as 1A or 1B. They WERE the heavyweight champion of the world. (Which just shows you how far boxing has fallen.) Louis was so renowned worldwide because he fought and was celebrated during the tensions of worldwide war.
As for other athletes you wouldn't normally think about...Bruce Lee?
He was huge in Asia and Europe as well as the US. In his prime, he was renowned as "the world's greatest fighter." Whatever that really meant?This post was edited on 6/25/11 at 12:27 am
Posted on 6/25/11 at 7:23 am to Bench McElroy
Ali>Jordan>>Woods
Posted on 6/25/11 at 9:17 am to Ric Flair
quote:There you go, the BBC one should clear it up.
In 1999, Ali was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.
Posted on 6/25/11 at 11:19 am to Bench McElroy
Ali easily.
Posted on 6/25/11 at 1:45 pm to LSUTANGERINE
quote:
Posted by LSUTANGERINE
quote:
It's Ali and whoever else is way way way behind
Even with the internet was being around then, I'd say Ali by a landslide. When he went to other countries they swarmed him like the Beatles. Check out the days leading up to the Thrilla in Manilla (v. Frazier) and the Geo Foreman-Ali fight in Zaire.
Ali was truly world-wide.
This is 100% correct
Posted on 6/25/11 at 1:47 pm to Bench McElroy
Michael Jordan and it's not even close
Posted on 6/25/11 at 1:52 pm to WHATDOINO
Please forgive MJ for not traipsing around third-world and muslim countries trying to justify his fame.
shite, who isn't treated like a king visiting those countries?
shite, who isn't treated like a king visiting those countries?
Posted on 6/25/11 at 3:49 pm to ehidal1
quote:
Mia Hamm
Brandi Chastain
Posted on 6/27/11 at 3:15 pm to BamaChick
Just passing through to let everyone know I was right about Ali
Posted on 6/27/11 at 3:19 pm to Bench McElroy
1 Muhammad Ali
2 Michael Jordan
3 Tiger Woods
2 Michael Jordan
3 Tiger Woods
Posted on 6/27/11 at 3:37 pm to Bench McElroy
quote:
Muhammad Ali
Michael Jordan
Tiger Woods
All three are huge. For their time Id throw in Jessie Owens and Joe Louis.
I give the edge to Mike though. They said back in the day one could travel to the most remote reaches of the planet, the most remote isolated people and find an MJ jersey.
Posted on 6/27/11 at 4:32 pm to stapuffmarshy
Ali, without a doubt.
Posted on 6/27/11 at 4:59 pm to Bench McElroy
Ali, he visited all over the world and people from come from everywhere just to see him. He was truly a spectacle to see.
Posted on 6/27/11 at 5:20 pm to The Truth 34
/motherfricking thread
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