Muhammed Ali vs Joe Louis

no one's had a bigger influence than ali. he was the most famous person in the world.

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"I've whupped all the best heavyweights on Earth,so now I'm gonna whup 'em all on every other planet.starting with Krypton"

 

In different ways,they were probably two of the most influential fighters of all time. Both broke down a lot of barriers.

 

They both had a big influence...in vastly different ways...

 

i would say ali. also simply cause ali was in the tv era. in joe louis his day there was only radio. maybe joe was big in usa but i think if you took an average person from a european country or asian or african in the 30ties and ask them if they new joe louis most wouldn't know him. well in the 70ties almost everybody in the world knew ali. hell my old man took me out of bed in the night to watch ali fight and a lot of guys my age tell the same storys. i can't imagine myself taking my 9 year old son out of bed to watch the klitschko's.. that's the difference

 

As far as the sport goes, I say Ali. Fighters to this day try to emulate Ali's style. How many people try to fight like Joe Louis?

 

It has GOT to be Ali.

Joe had a huge impact, and broke a lot of barriers, but no athlete has ever done more for sports than Muhammad Ali.

He was the most famous man on Earth. More people knew him, knew of him, and knew he was the heavyweight champion than any other fighter, arguably any other athlete, ever.

You can't dress down Joe, as he was a huge influence on the sport, and a true American hero, but Ali is on a tier of his own as far as impact to the world and American culture. The name Muhammad Ali will always ring a bell, with anybody on the street.

 

Ali, for sure.

 

If we are strictly comparing boxing resumes, Joe has a case

However, if we are comparing overall influence and impact on sports and popular culture; Ali is aeons ahead of Joe

 

As others have said, it has to be Ali.

 

That's a really great avatar, rob.

And yeah, Ali. The lasting impact of Louis has probably faded a bit, as Ali's surely will in the next 3 or 4 decades, but as Magna said, when talking about Ali, we're talking about the most instantly recognizable person on the planet.

 

Cheers

 

Because H, unlike Ali, to emulate Joe Louis's style you would need a cast of two. Joe Louis...and his victim flat on the canvas...

 

Well I sure as hell wish more would try fighting like Louis.

As to the question, it's Ali now, but all time? Probably Louis during WWII Nothing compared to that because it was a proxity for the outcome of the war. Dempsey could also make a good case. He had two fights with over 100Kattending and was making multiple times the amount Babe Ruth was.