Zou Shiming of China, the first from his country to fight at Madison Square Garden, is the first who springs to my mind. Let's make the full list. Ready, set, go!
Jofre - Brazil. It's a nice try, Stallion, to get a different thread but I fear this will wither quite quickly. The only other examples I can think of are Chile with Godoy who was only ever a star because he fought Louis and Belgium with Coopman who was only famous for fighting Ali in a bit of a joke defence. Was Laszlo Papp a star? Alfredo Evangelista is the only Uruguayan I can think if but his star power is faint. I think you need to come from a country where boxing is fairly popular to become a star. To have a range of gyms and trainers, small fights when you're starting out so you can not just learn but afford to keep at it, sparring partners, opponents. If nobody but you is doing the sport, where are you going to start? It makes Jofre's achievement even more incredible because - outside of Acelino Freitas and Adilson Rodriguez - I can't think of any other boxers from Brazil. And Jofre managed to become arguably the best fighter ever in his weight class despite his homeland never having produced any kind of talent pool or interest in the sport.
There's not been many notable Portuguese boxers, but one is Santa Camarao, a 6 ft 8 inch heavyweight who fought for the European heavy title on one occasion and lost to Baer and Carnera in a decent career.
Yes, Brazil has had a few . By the way, just like Zou Shiming is the only boxer from China to fight at Madison Square Garden, can you think of other fighters who are the only ones from their country to compete at such a famous venue? And in your eyes, can Laszlo Papp be considered a general star, not just amateur? Love these discussions and thanks as always!!
Technically Benvenuti was born in Italy but I guess he counts as Italian. Cerdan for Algeria? I guess he’s considered French though. Western Samoa - David Tua?
Actually the first Chilean I thought of was the flyweight Martin Vargas and I would also consider Miguel DeOliviera another outstanding Brazilian. It is hard to think of simply one though, I will grant you that. I was thinking of a remote country that had nil stars and I did think of one. Back in the 70s there was a fighter from Fiji of all places named Sakaria Ve, who either was Commonwealth welterweight champ or fought for it. And that was the only fighter they ever had (I think).
Siki lived in Senegal until a teen and was celebrated in the press there. Nelson's biggest problem is the great Brian Nielsen... and perhaps Mikkel Kessler
