Here in the UK we knew he was huge, but how big of a deal was he in the states? Tyson levels of popularity or not? Most well known fighter below HW? Who was more popular in boxing than him at that time?
They loved him above all, Till they found out the risk, That the golden boy posed, To their beloved egg whisk,
SO POPULAR- he became the sport's cashcow after Leonard & Tyson. Seems he had some trouble from his own people- questioning if he was true Mexican. Then the women loved him. He caused a lot of women to buy PPVs. Mayweather didn't become the A side -until he fought DLH when he was the B side. After that is when Floyd blew up. RJJ once tried to call him out. Hopkins knew a fight with DLH drew the crowd, cause he couldn't.
He was very popular at a time more popular than his ability though obviously very talented. However he was not quite as good as the hype. He had cross over appeal in the USA though not as popular amongst the Mexicans of his heritage. I suspect in part to him defeating a very old Julio Cesar Chavez. The defeat was not the issue more his celebration of the win. I understand some of his Uncles are not speaking to him even as of today because of that. The whole Golden Boy thing was a bit contrived. It pissed him off and upset him greatly that Mayweather became more popular and made much more money by being himself instead of a marketing ploy.
He was extremely popular here.... you had a gold medal winner with a big smile who would fight anyone and came up fast in the sport by taking risks. He was similar in comparison to Ray Leonard from a PR standpoint. Oscar even made a record because his popularity went beyond boxing, singing was not his thing haha. To me and this is purely my opinion things started to go downhill for him from the Trinidad fight. There were rumblings back then in the gyms of his bisexuality and his alcohol and drug use. Then after the cross dressing stuff came out his public image took a huge hit. He denied it for a long time but it was obvious it was him and he eventually came clean during one of his several sobriety attempts. He was a great fighter who would fight anyone with good power, a good skill set, and a good chin. He like everyone is a flawed human being in his private life.
Olympian, Mexican heritage, incredibly handsome, all the while boxing was still big in US. He had it all.
My honest opinion is that he was a very very good fighter but not a great fighter. His so called singing career had one great benefit to him as that is what led him to meet the beautiful lady Millie Corretjer who became his wife. Dignified long suffering beauty who has been put through hell.
I never could stand the ****ing guy. He just talked flitty, and a lot of his early competition, like Ruelas, or 100 fight declining Chavez, just wasn't all it was made out to be. Plus Whitiker kicked his ass. Really, to this day, screw him.
He was extremely popular. Loved by many, hated by as many. He was also very popular with the ladies. He's one of few that has a statue posted infront of L.A.s biggest venue.
Let's get it right here, as much as I dislike the fishnet wearing weirdo, back in the day he was a superstar.
He was a huge star before social media. He conquered the biggest Mexican boxing star in history to that point (Chavez) with ease. Twice. At one point, he was not only famous for boxing but he was also one of if not the biggest Latin star in the world - in any field. He owned one of the largest boxing promotional companies in the world when fighters didn't own anything. (He opened the door for others to join him.) He had corporate sponsors. Appeared regularly in commercials for all sorts of products. He had shoe deals. His first album was nominated for Best Latin Pop Album at the Grammys. People don't even remember that. He had a #1 single on the Billboard Latin charts. (LOL) I can't even think of a boxer who had a number one record or who was nominated for a Grammy. "Y'all Must've Forgot" ... Roy Jones' Anthem ... certainly wasn't. (LOL)
