Besides Ali, Tyson, Floyd, Jack Johnson, Pacquiao, who else transcended the sport?

many say sugar ray leonard and Oscar. I agree

they transcended the sport by bringing non boxing fans to the sport. They were both greatly liked and admired by fans and non fans after the Olympics.

Women were going nuts for them and they were boxers made into celebrities

 

Hi Chef!!! Anyways, nice call.

What about Lennox? He also brought some Canadian/British non boxing fans into the sport

 

Mayweather.

Pretty much anyone on the planet who has a passing interest in sports knows who Mayweather is.

How can you have Pacquiao there and not Floyd?

 

no ones said Marciano yet? Robinson, John L Sullivan..

 

Jack Dempsy, Joe Louis, Ray Leonard & Oscar De La Hoya.

 

What the **** are you doing putting Manny PAC in the company of those great boxers???? PAC hasn't transcended anything re. Boxing. It is all about marketing. Comparing PAC to those guys, is like comparing Dog**** to Icecream.

 

Its worth to note that although there are only a few boxers who are well known around the world, there are many boxers have become huge celenrities in their respective countries. For exmple, Roman Gonzalez will not be noticed in a crowd everywhere he goes but you can be sure that in Nicaragua everyone will know who he is. I'm sure there are many other boxers who fall into this category.

Besides this point, a boxer that has transcended the sport in popularity that has not been mentioned is George Foreman. In achievemnt you can add Alexis Arguello as he was the mayor of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.

 

A lot of heavyweights.

Joe Louis and John L.

Naseem Hamed, maybe not as much as some listed, but more so than most fighters ever have.

 

George Foreman have made a good buisness in his grill, taken from wikipedia.

The George Foreman Grill has resulted in sales of over 100 million units since it was first launched, a feat achieved in a little over 15 years.

 

Ali, Louis, Pacquiao, Johnson, Tyson

That's it.

 

Pac is/was more popular globally at his peak

 

Frank Bruno did a lot of panto. A LOT.

 

Depends on how loose a definition of "transcend" you want to use (very loose judging by some of the answers)

John L, Johnson, Louis and Ali were massively influential cultural figures, whose impact stretched way beyond the constraints of what should normally be possible for a fighter. The likes of Robinson and Leonard were just exceptional fighters who were really really famous - there is a subtle but important distinction.

 

Exactly, what the hell has Floyd done for the world outside the sport? People will remember Ali's actions outside of the ring LONG AFTER the fights he had inside it. This is why Ali still carried the olympic torch some 30 years after his last fight. Floyd will not be remembered outside of his boxing personality. Just being a celebrity doesn't mean that you "transcend the sport of boxing".

I'm not knocking Floyd really, I don't really think hes that bad of a person. But I think its an insult to Ali to put Floyd even in this category with him.

 

Marginal, and hard to call.

Anyone who knew Pacquiao HAD to know Mayweather too, because 90% of the buzz around Pacquiao was weather he'd fight Mayweather or not!