Most Socio-politically Important Fight?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by salsanchezfan, Jul 10, 2020.


Which fight had the most sociapolitical impact?

  1. Johnson-Jeffries

    20 vote(s)
    60.6%

  2. Louis-Schmeling II

    12 vote(s)
    36.4%

  3. Ali-Frazier I

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%

  4. Holmes-Cooney

    1 vote(s)
    3.0%
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  1. salsanchezfan

    salsanchezfan Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Please vote for which of these four bouts you believe to have had the most social and crossover importance, and perhaps why you think that. Each one was a mega-event in its time for a variety of primary and secondary reasons.
     
    salsanchezfan, Jul 10, 2020
    salsanchezfan, Jul 10, 2020
    #1
  2. klompton2

    klompton2 Boxing Junkie banned Full Member

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    Im going with Johnson-Jeffries. My gut says Louis-Schmeling and Ali-Frazier was probably the biggest fight of all time but Johnson-Jeffries had ramifications that rippled down through decades. Louis-Schmelings impact was over pretty quick.
     
    klompton2, Jul 10, 2020
    klompton2, Jul 10, 2020
    #2
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  3. The Long Count

    The Long Count Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    I picked Louis vs Schmeling. Louis winning and turning a black American into just an American paved the way for Jackie Robinson and all that followed
     
    The Long Count, Jul 10, 2020
    The Long Count, Jul 10, 2020
    #3
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  4. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    Johnson-Jeffries for me. I don't' think you can overstate how much that undermined the point of view of the racists that made him a favourite. Nothing like that has happened before or since. Most Americans wanted Louis to be Schmeling (though not all) and the whole counter-culture Ali-Frazier BS was a nonsense by comparison.

    Johnson-Jeffries was seen by many, many fewer folks but meant much more. I also think that Johnson changed some minds and that Frazier and Louis changed comparatively fewer.
     
    McGrain, Jul 10, 2020
    McGrain, Jul 10, 2020
    #4
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  5. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    You could throw Cribb Molineux into the mix!
     
    janitor, Jul 10, 2020
    janitor, Jul 10, 2020
    #5
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  6. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

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    I'm going with Johnson-Jeffries. It was such a breakthru fight. Not that Johnson is necessarily a hero as a human. But he performed in a crucial time and place... and it was on his terms. I feel that Louis-Schmeling 2, a close second, really wasn't Louis grasping the greater narrative but being written into it. And it didn't seem to be a lastly racial or personal victory.
     
    Seamus, Jul 10, 2020
    Seamus, Jul 10, 2020
    #6
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  7. Bronze Tiger

    Bronze Tiger Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I’m gonna go with Louis vs Schmeling... because Johnson vs Jeffries had a negative effect.,,people got lynched after that fight
     
    Bronze Tiger, Jul 10, 2020
    Bronze Tiger, Jul 10, 2020
    #7
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  8. vast

    vast Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Louis - Schmeling.. on the brink of WWII to have Louis demolish Max was absolutely huge.
     
    vast, Jul 10, 2020
    vast, Jul 10, 2020
    #8
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  9. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    Agree. While fights like Johnson vs Jeffries and Holmes vs Cooney divided America, Louis vs Schmeling United it.
     
    mr. magoo, Jul 10, 2020
    mr. magoo, Jul 10, 2020
    #9
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  10. JLP1978

    JLP1978 Member Full Member

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    I agree with the Johnson and Louis fights and I thankful that people recognize the importance of the those fights.

    I would like to Clay/Ali - Liston. It is still hard to grasp the gravity of the boasting and brash newcomer taking on a great fighter, taunting the jeering. Liston was and is still considered one of the greatest Heavyweights of all time. Ali a 7-1 underdog explained he would stop this man/champion...in 8.

    (I imagine something like Buster Douglas taunting and predicting that he will KO Mike Tyson...and then doing it. Unimaginable!)

    But even more astonishing, this golden boy gold medalist became a member of the militant NOI in the 60s and changed his name to Muhammad Ali and was being mentored by friggin Malcolm X!

    I would put this at the level of after 9/11 the heavyweight champion, say Deontay Wilder, became a Muslim, and starting speaking about social issues the way Ali did...can you even imagine it without cringing?

    This is essentially what Ali did...and he completely changed the way sports figures reacted the world events.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2020
    JLP1978, Jul 10, 2020
    JLP1978, Jul 10, 2020
    #10
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  11. salsanchezfan

    salsanchezfan Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    I went with Louis-Schmeling. Honestly, the odd man out of the four choices to me here is probably Holmes-Cooney, though it was a pressure-cooker of racial tension and completely captured the passions and imagination of a country (and world), illustrating perhaps how far we hadn't come since Johnson-Jeffries. But it's still a bit lower down the staff than the others.

    To me, Louis-Schmeling was the most impactful because it gave anyone who saw fit to see it a glimpse of the biggest irony they could have hoped to see; a black man standing in for America, to represent her and her values on a truly world stage (unlike the other fights), and making himself a hero or at least a rooting favorite to even the most backwards-thinking segregationist.

    And it was truly on a world stage. The other bouts here had of course immense impact and symbolism in the U.S., but the added ingredient in the Louis-Schmeling fights was Schmeling's perceived links to the Nazi regime. On the brink of war and with Czechoslovakia already annexed, Schmeling became a symbol himself, unfairly of course but a symbol nonetheless. It was a Good and Evil drama played out in front of an entire globe, with emotionally vested interests all over. The stakes had never been, and never would be as high.
     
    salsanchezfan, Jul 11, 2020
    salsanchezfan, Jul 11, 2020
    #11
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  12. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    That is all the more reason to name Johnson Jeffries unfortunately!
     
    janitor, Jul 11, 2020
    janitor, Jul 11, 2020
    #12
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  13. louis54

    louis54 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Slight edge to johnson...jeffries
     
    louis54, Jul 11, 2020
    louis54, Jul 11, 2020
    #13
  14. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    That is the movie that needs to be made, and it should not be nice!
     
    janitor, Jul 11, 2020
    janitor, Jul 11, 2020
    #14
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  15. ThePlugInBabies

    ThePlugInBabies ♪ ♫ Full Member

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    i get the result in the boxing world was huge, especially after the first bout.

    but this bout had zero impact on the preceding years. adolf wasn't in his bunker bemoaning that dastardly joe louis.

    nah its johnson-jeffries all day.
     
    ThePlugInBabies, Jul 11, 2020
    ThePlugInBabies, Jul 11, 2020
    #15
    JLP1978 likes this.
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