I have an essay due on boxing history, so I'd like to know, who in your opion is the most significant boxer or boxers of each decade strarting with the 1890's? By siginificant I'm referring to culturally and internationally impactful, to the sport, society and their popularity, ie Ali being a worldwide phenomenon. My rough draft is something like this, but I'd like some more suggestions: 1890's: John L. Sullivan 1900's: Battling Nelson or Joe Gans? I'm a little stumped 1910's: Jack Johnson 20's: Jack Dempsey and Benny Leonard 30's: Henry Armstrong? 40's: Joe Louis 50's: Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson and Raul Macias (My teacher likes him, so he has to go on the list lol) 60's and 70's: Muhammad Ali 80's: Mike Tyson and the Fab Four 90's: Tyson and Holyfield 2000's: Oscar de la Hoya 2010's: Mayweather and Pacquiao All suggestions and ideas are welcome. Thanks!
Here's some alternatives 1890s - George Dixon (first Black champ) 1900s - James J Jefferies, Jimmy Wilde. Terry Mcgovern 1910s - Sam Langford, Harry Greb (just 1919 alone is ridiculous) 1920s - Harry Greb. Gene Tunney. Mickey Walker. Panama Al brown (first Hispanic champ) 1930s - Kid Chocolate (extremely famous then) Tony canzoneri, Mclarnin, Barney Ross. Louis could be included here as well. 1940s - SRR could be here instead. Willie Pep. Jake LaMotta. Ezzard Charles. 1950s - Kid Gavilan. Archie Moore. Floyd Patterson. Yoshio Shirai (first Japanese champ). Sandy saddler. 1960s - eder Jofre. Fighting Harada. Sonny Liston. Ruben Olivares. 1970s - Monzon. Roberto Duran. Alexis Arguello. Jose Napoles. 1980s - Roberto Duran. Salvador sanchez. Duk Koo Kim (for Mancini bout). Wilfredo Benitez (youngest champion). Larry Holmes. 1990s - pernell whitaker. Roy Jones Jr. Chavez. Foreman. I may edit this list later. Edit: added a few names.
I love this thread 1880's: John L Sullivan 1890's: Bob Fitzsimmons 1900's: James J Jeffries 1910's: Jack Johnson 1920's: Jack Dempsey 1930's: Henry Armstrong 1940's: Joe Louis 1950's: Sugar Ray Robinson 1960's: Muhammad Ali 1970's: Muhammad Ali 1980's: Mike Tyson 1990's: Mike Tyson 2000's: Floyd Mayweather 2010's: Floyd Mayweather There's other notable mentions, guys like Barbados Walcott, Joe Gans, Benny Leonard, Harry Greb, Mickey Walker, Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao but I've just listed who I think wins every decade in terms of cultural influences
1910s - Jack Johnson 1920s - Jack Dempsey 1930s - Max Schmeling 1940s - Joe Louis 1950s - Rocky Marciano 1960s - Muhammad Ali 1970s - Muhammad Ali 1980s - Mike Tyson 1990s - Mike Tyson 2000s - Roy Jones Jr. 2010s - Floyd Mayweather Jr.
On popularity/fame (ie: Johnson was famous but far from popular) 1910-Johnson 1920-Dempsey 1930-Bear 1940-Louis 1950-SRR 1960-Ali 1970-Duran 1980-Tyson 1990-Jones 2000-Mayweather 2010-Pacquiao It would be very different if it was on a greatness ranking which I could do instead
1890's Fitzsimmons 1900's Jefferies 1910's Johnson (Jack Johnson loved being Jack Johnson) 1920's Jack Dempsey (Forget safety first, Safety Last) 1930's Joe Louis " We will win because WE ARE ON GOD'S SIDE!!!" 1940's Sugar Ray (Harlem Culture the Poets, Talkin all that Jazz, PinkCaddilac and the Entourage) 1950's Kid Gavilan the Age of Television 1960's Sonny Liston (The champ white America didn't want. Kennedy and the NAACP what's under the Xmas tree? 1970's- Ali- Vietnam/race relations/Love/Hate. Triumph of Justice. 1980's- Sugar Ray Leonard- commercialism fakes us out. Mike Tyson- A force of nature 1990's - Lennox Lewis-. He dared to be dull but he was the best. 2000's- Oscar DelaHoya Commercialism fakes us out part 2. 2010- Floyd Mayweather - boxing fans go from social user to non functional drug addicts.