What was the biggest boxing fight in history?

FOTC, then the rumble
I’d imagine Ali v Liston 1 was up there at the time?
Lighter weights has to be Duran - Leonard 1.
Mayweather v Pac is nowhere near, if they’d fought earlier then sure.

 

Maybe one of these Russian HW's fancies a fight with Usyk?

I picture it like Ali against Ernie Terrell, with Usyk yelling "Slava Ukraini!!" between flurries.

 

Lennox vs Vitali.

IMO H2H the strongest pairing boxing's ever seen.

 

One had a greater cultural impact than the other.

And only an idiot doesn’t understand this.

 

Definitely the most socially important sporting event of all time in the US! Joe Louis became an ATG American Hero that night, and proved to be an all-time great in the ring afterwards. The amount of young men in America that he gave hope and fighting Spirit to during World War II can probably never be overestimated.

My Father's Idol.

 

The biggest event (not viewers, or PPV numbers, etc....), simply the biggest event ever I would think was Louis/Schmeling two. I can't imagine larger implications for a boxing event, not even Frazier/Ali one of Foreman/Ali.

 

Really? I would be surprised given that it was only on Netflix, meanwhile other mega fights have been shown all over the world through various platforms that cater to more local markets.
Yes, yes, Netflix is a global brand and accessible in most countries with an internet connection, but it cant beat a global network of broadcasters.

 

A thread made to make points for mayweather?

As to the question: my dad told me that his dad woke him and the whole family up in the middle of the night in germany as a child for the rumble in the jungle.

He did it for the apollo moon landing (or start i don't know) too. I don't know about another event he did that for.

Basically no one in my family knows mayweather apart from one who is also invested in boxing. With friends it's the same. But they have heard of ali. Probably most would recognize him.

Just because nowadays everyone has 4 streaming services and watches 250 events a year and mayweather pacquiao was a big one that year doesn't mean it is as 'big' as the rumble in the jungle was.

 

And then he got ****ed by the american government. Probably racist tax department. In a documentary they said he didn't pay enough tax on the money he donated for the war effort?

That is so absurd I don't even know if it can be the actual reason. But even if it was for something else, apparently He donated over a million to the war effort which must be many many millions now. And then they got him on taxes... The most shameful behavior

 

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Amen to this, I don't think I've seen a more ethereal moment in the boxing ring than at 3:04. If I could be ringside for any fight in the history of the sport, then it'd be the RITJ, and I don't even know what would be second.

This whole passage from 3:04 to around 3:25 is unbelievable. You can see the whole stadium literally shake at 3:09 as Ali steadies himself and meets the unstoppable force head-on, beating him at his own game and standing in the pocket, landing at will, slipping and sliding, taking the fight by the throat and getting it over the finish line.

Drew Bundini-Brown, in the background, is watching intently. He didn't think Ali stood a chance; he couldn't believe what he was watching. After the KO, he is in tears, knowing he has just witnessed a monumental sporting moment. Even he can't believe it. We will never see anything like that again in a boxing ring. Whenever I want to turn my back on boxing, I revisit the RITJ to reignite that flame.

"Is that all you got, George?"

 

Little biased but gonna go with thrilla in Manila.

But if it were me..

Tyson/Holyfield 1

 

Absolutely terrible. It is so sad to see video of Louis doing greeting jobs and things like that.

The tax nonsense will fade into Oblivion. What will be immortalized forever is that when America needed a superhero, Joe Louis was there.

 

Biggest build up to a fight in my time as a boxing fan was undefeated & unified WBC, WBA & IBF heavyweight champ Mike Tyson v undefeated Lineal world heavyweight champ Michael Spinks. Only the second time in boxing history that two undefeated universally recognised Heavyweight Champions of the World faced each other.

Probably the biggest fight in boxing history was the first time two undefeated universally recognised Heavyweight Champions of the World faced each other - the original Frazier v Ali in Madison Square Garden in 1971. Jack Johnson v Tommy Burns was also a very big fight back in the day. The editorials in the Sydney newspapers on the day of that fight make for interesting reading.