Would Mayweather have been anywhere near as popular in the 90s?

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by reckless, Dec 25, 2020.



  1. Scar

    Scar VIP Member Full Member

    75,688
    2,233
    Jul 20, 2004
    People won't care if he wins or loses if he wasn't popular.
     
    sasto and Rumsfeld like this.
  2. Bigcheese

    Bigcheese Well-Known Member Full Member

    1,575
    1,894
    Jun 7, 2015
    It's possible. There were lots of very popular fighters he could have fought. JJC, prince naseem, de la Hoya. I suppose it depends on how he did, he seemed to need that undefeated aura more than most fighters
     
  3. El Gallo Negro

    El Gallo Negro Active Member banned Full Member

    1,267
    1,281
    Nov 8, 2020
    um, mayweather debuted in the mid 90s ...
    anyone who wasnt a casual was well aware of and he was already having great fights by the late 90s, like his blowout of highly touted Angel Manfredy for example.

    Mayweather continued to grow in popularity and really exploded about 10 years into his career when he broke from Arum and started promoting himself.

    I think he would have been just as popular had he come out 10 years sooner
     
    Alo2006 and sasto like this.
  4. sasto

    sasto Boxing Junkie Full Member

    12,108
    15,594
    Aug 5, 2020
    One thing is I think Mayweather is known pretty well outside of boxing. He's familiar to most US sports fans and people who follow celebrities generally.

    He definitely benefitted from US apathy to the Klitschkos, like Leonard and Duran did from the quieter HW scene of the 80s. He also benefitted from hip hop becoming part of mainstream culture. It gave his Money persona a mass market legibility it wouldn't have had 10 years earlier.
     
    Aussie Invader likes this.
  5. guncho

    guncho next champion! Full Member

    4,942
    491
    Oct 15, 2007
    I remember when Joshua had home coming and fans were taking pictures and Floyd was there aswell and nobody cared about him and wanted picture with him.

    That would never happen to Tyson if he was in Floyds place.
     
  6. guncho

    guncho next champion! Full Member

    4,942
    491
    Oct 15, 2007
    This content is protected
     
  7. reckless

    reckless Active Member Full Member

    1,031
    1,071
    Mar 18, 2018
    That was only one guy.
     
  8. Aussie Invader

    Aussie Invader Boxing Addict banned Full Member

    4,568
    3,727
    Jan 5, 2017
    people know who mayweather is over here in australia too.
    ironically, the mcgregor fight did a lot for floyd's profile. a lot of non-boxing fans were talking about it over here and watched the fight.
     
    sasto likes this.
  9. Puroresu_Fan

    Puroresu_Fan Boxing Junkie Full Member

    7,802
    6,596
    Apr 6, 2016
    Of course people know who he is. You don't sell that many ppv's if you not a cross over star.

    No he isn't on Tyson levels but nobody is. That's not a stick to beat him with.
     
    sasto and Aussie Invader like this.
  10. Aussie Invader

    Aussie Invader Boxing Addict banned Full Member

    4,568
    3,727
    Jan 5, 2017
    i've had a chat to CJ and he said 'yes'.
     
  11. Richmondpete

    Richmondpete Real fighters do road work Full Member

    7,141
    5,004
    Oct 22, 2015
    I think I stumbled into the YDKSAB thread
     
  12. Serge

    Serge Ginger Dracula Staff Member

    71,006
    107,792
    Jul 21, 2009
    This content is protected

    This content is protected
     
  13. Middle Pocket

    Middle Pocket New Member banned Full Member

    30
    45
    Apr 30, 2019
    Remember when Floyd had to have his goons torch his own mini bus to get noticed in the UK? :coti:

    This content is protected
     
    guncho likes this.
  14. BigBone

    BigBone Boxing Addict Full Member

    6,294
    1,468
    Nov 20, 2007
    Trickier question than you'd think cause boxing was way more popular back then, even more so going back another decade, so perhaps he could've become popular much sooner riding the waves of much larger general viewership.

    Floyd really only broke thru by beating the big PPV star in DLH, no real masses ever knew who he was when he utterly destroyed Corrales, I'd imagine most Pactars and Floyd haters never watched professional boxing those days. It's kinda incredible he put those a**es in seats when boxing was really losing steam later, and had he came up with Duran, Hagler, Hearns, Benitez and Leonard, no doubt he would've become huge much sooner, with that early Floyd style, good trash talk, huge competition and HUGELY more general viewership.
     
  15. 6.5winmag

    6.5winmag Member Full Member

    330
    183
    May 1, 2020
    tyson came to fight floyd came to run