Do some people think Floyd Mayweather made boxing more popular than its ever been

It is 100% false. The growing access to boxing PPV over time flatters Floyd's numbers. If guys like Tyson, and Ali, and Leonard were around at the same time as Floyd they would have blown away his numbers. And if Robinson or Leonard had been around at the same time as Floyd, he would likely just be a small footnote in boxing history after losing in his title shot.

 

Yes and no.

He took the Johnson/Ali blue print making people hate him and perfected it. He wouldn't have nearly the same PPV success unless he talked trash and riled people up. His cagey defensive style would have likely lead to a dead end career without all the controversy and build ups.

Other younger boxers such as Broner and Fury have had decent success using similar methods. He helped encourage the next generation to take control of their careers in the way he refused to be a slave under promoters like Arum accepting crumbs as payment. He took full advantage of social media and the current climate of boxing to maximize his earnings.

However, the Pacquiao fight has sort of put a wet blanket on boxing hype that it hasn't recovered from. People desperately wanted to see him lose and he not only won, it was a rather boring fight. Now some people have become a bit more skeptical and less willing to fork over money for any old fight even if it's PPV.

His failing to become undisputed/not facing some mandatories helped set a precedent for other Young boxers to operate similarly picking and choosing carefully who they face (although he was far from the first). The whole undefeated aura was infectious and only adds to the frustration we see now begging champions to face each other.

 

he helped. he was the best boxer as was Manny for many years, but his problem was always handpicking at the right time. I think great fights are remembered more than undefeated records, but I could be wrong.

 

No way. With each passing decade popularity in boxing among the general Public has steadily declined and continued to do so through mayweather’s time. Sounds like just the personal opinion of the author.

 

Nope. His fight with Conor definitely had crossover appeal, but that's about it. He became a minor celebrity in the greater scheme of things, but in my opinion not much more than that.

 

The thread question is:

"Do some people think Floyd Mayweather made boxing more popular than it's ever been?"

I'd answer "yes." Given the diversity of human opinions, there are probably at least 3 people in the world who currently believe that Floyd made boxing more popular than it's ever been.

 

Great fighter. One of the best ever to lace them up.
High boxing IQ.
BUT he and others damaged boxing very badly.
Its one thing to look for can advantage over your competition in the negotiations but Mayweather took it to a whole new level.
And he didn't seem to want to seek out any challenges at all.
He played it safe a lot. That's why his name isn't as revered as say a Leonard's or Hearns. Or a Hagler.

 

Today far more people are watching boxing than, say, 50 years ago... thanks, of course, to satellite TV and the internet. I don't think Mayweather has anything to do with it.

 

He did his part. No one can take away that, saying things like Ali would’ve blown him away and things like he’d be a footnote? We don’t know but have some respect he was what he was for a reason.

 

This is not true at all. 90 Million people watched Ali fight Spinks in the US alone. Over 2 Billion watched worldwide. Mayweather-Pacquiao only had 4 Million people watch the fight. Ali-Spinks had 63K in attendance vs Mayweather/Pac's 16K. This is not a close comparison at all.

 

Simple answer, no, i personally dont think so. Do some people think he has? Id say yeah, some would, but id disagree with them. Great business man and if people wanna throw money at him well good luck to him but as far as being responsible for making boxing more popular than its ever been, well, hes standing on the shoulders of giants

 

Well, we all know, that Ali was a special case - who created worldwide interest, not just among fight fans, but non-fans as well.

Several more recent fights (Froch vs Groves II, Joshua vs Klitschko, Canelo vs Saunders) drew live audiences bigger than the 63k for Ali vs Spinks.

 

Yeah. Names like Ali and Tyson are still household names, but no one who doesn't have any interest in boxing will know who Floyd is. At least not here in Sweden.

No one has had that type of crossover fame since Tyson.