Which Classic Fighter Had The Most Fanatical Fanbase?

Hi Guys.
Lots of good pics, John L is a standout, if we are going Latin as some have, for me there is only three real standouts, Duran of course, JCC, and my pick of the crop Ruben Olivares, of course there were very good Mexican fighters before Ruben, the likes of Kid Azteca, Juan Zurita, Raul Macias, to name a few, but Olivares really put Mexico on the boxing map, the broad shouldered, gap toothed, puncher was indeed worshiped by his compatriots, like no other before, he had that aura around him that all great fighters have, yes it's rockabye Rueben for me.
stay safe guys.
Mike.

 

Art Aragon and Bobby Chacon were huge draws in LA with fervent fan bases.

People who weren’t around probably don’t realize how big Pete Ranzany and Tony Lopez were in Sacramento … they were the hometown pro franchises in their days. Likewise for Virgil Hill in North Dakota.

Ray Robinson and Joe Louis were universally draws but were like gods walking the earth in Harlem in their days.

 

Because he was that good.

 

I would actually disagree about Larry Holmes.

Holmes wasn't very popular at all during his heavyweight title run.

Not at all. Seemed like everyone rooted for him to lose all the time. So much so, Cooney made more for their fight than Larry did.

In fact, Larry was so disliked, a couple of boxing magazines at the time (that were owned by the same company) - Big Book of Boxing and some others - created a "fan" whose letters would appear in the letters section (that print era's message board) of their magazines.

The fake fan's name was "Luther Jackson" (clearly a black name invented by the all white writers who worked there).

And in nearly every issue of every mag during the entirety of Larry's reign, 'Luther Jackson' would insist Holmes was the greatest heavyweight of all ... and for almost seven years, 'Luther ' would "write a letter" and brag after every Holmes win.

And other fans would write letters telling Luther he was wrong and the next guy would beat Holmes. And then Larry would win again, Luther would brag, and more people would write letters frothing at the mouth over Luther.

Years later, I learned Luther was just the writers at the magazine trying to stir up fans, because nobody really liked Larry.

Most fighters with rabid fan bases don't need to invent fake fans.

That's one reason why Holmes wept in the ring after he beat Mercer. He said it was one of the only times he felt like the crowd was rooting for him.

 

It sounds like they just looked at 2 popular black singers and said “let’s mix them together for the name!”

 

Monzons let him get away with murder

 

Forumman and Roid Jones have the most fanatical fans closely followed by James "Burger" Toney.

 

But before Monzón there was Eduardo Lausse (minus the crimes) who probably had an equally avid fan base in Argentina.

 

hahhaahha

 

That Luther Jackson thing has cracked me up

 

Ask the Foremaniacs.

 

For fighters were limited and didn't achieve that much, Chris Byrd is up there, at least on this forum. Name one other fighter whose legacy hinges on an opponent quitting with a serious incidental injury after the opponent has already locked up the scorecards.

 

Jack Dempsey

Modern fighters still revere him if Mike Tyson idolises your way of fighting it's a great nod to a another legend of HW boxing.

 

Us Brits have our share - Big Frank, Enery, Benn, Ricky Hatton (didn't he take 25,000 to Vegas? Working men shelling out that kind of money!!).

Jeff Fenech had a big Aussie following. Wasn't Henry Maske huge in Germany? Cerdan in France especially when he was with Edith Piaf.

I'm not too clued up on the South Korean, Thai, Philipines fan bases but I bet they can be rabid.

Loved the nods to Lopez , Aragon and Virgil Hill in their states.

 

Wasn't Johnny du Plooy embraced by locals to a degree far out of scale to his abilities?