top 10 biggest boxing icons?

1. Muhammad Ali
2. Joe Louis
3. Jack Dempsey
4. Jack Johnson
5. Mike Tyson
6. Ray Robinson
7. John L. Sullivan
8. Manny Pacquiao
9. Roberto Duran
10. George Foreman

 

Stanley Ketchel maybe also??

 

1.Ali
2. Tyson
3. SRR
4. Louis
5. SRL
6. De La Hoya
7.JCC
8. Marciano
9. Roy Jones Jr
10. Monzon ( his super star status with the Argentinians must count for something)

 

I'm suprised no one has yet mentioned Benny Leonard. (Unless I missed him ... I did glance over all the responses).

He was REVERED by the other boxers of his time, and is surely one of the greatest Jewish sports heros.

 

Schmeling is still the biggest boxing icon in Germany.

 

Good call i forgot about him.

 

This is pretty close to what my list would be, however, I might find away to get Pac on that list. and I think ODH belongs in place of JCC. I can only imagine that Duran must have had a huge, huge following in Panama.

 

I agree, but i'm not personally ready to give Pac that status yet. I'm sure in 10 years or so, he will be in close to everyone's top 5 including mine. JCC is every Mexican and Mexican-Americans favorite fighter. ODH was hated when he beat him.... Believe me it was hard to omit Duran from my list.

 

If we're taking national Icons - then they don't come much bigger than Georges Carpentier and Marcel Cerdan for France

 

I sure the poster is referring to world renowned fighters.

 

Wait, what sort of icon are we talking about here? If we're talking about the kind of icon that people all around the world would know about today (even those who aren't familiar with boxing), I think it might be hard to come up with ten.

That said, I think that the shift in the media over the last twenty years could definitely help if the right boxer came along. Can you imagine how big Ali would be if he started boxing today? You'd see him on Twitter, youtube, everything in the lead up to fights and you can bet that with his wit and personality that he'd be even more popular.