Muhammad Ali is definitely the #1 most viewed boxer in history. His events were topped the billions in terms of viewers. Due to being on free Network television in an era of 3 channels, no one in the PPV era will top him. Ali has 6 events that topped 1 Billion viewers: September 15, 1978: Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks II Estimated audience — 2 billion October 2, 1980: Muhammad Ali vs. Larry Holmes: The Last Hurrah Estimated audience — 2 billion June 26, 1976: Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki Estimated audience — 1.4 billion October 30, 1974: Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman: The Rumble in the Jungle Estimated audience — 1 billion October 1, 1975: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III: Thrilla in Manila Estimated audience — 1 billion June 9, 2016 — Muhammad Ali Memorial Service Estimated audience — 1 billion Who else in history had a high number of viewers? Mike Tyson, ODLH, and Money Mayweather are the top draws of the post-Ali era. I heard that Klitschko got 500 million viewers to watch him get beat by Anthony Joshua so he has to be in the discussion.
Pacquaio. A large country comes to a standstill when he fights. Chavez Sr. Up there too. Fights on free TV, fought often.
I suspect it is Tyson. The majority who saw Ali and were still around would have seen Tyson fight and for the last 35 years he has been arguably the most popular boxing figure on the planet and that includes Ali for many of them years. If nothing else, the generally shorter fights Tyson had, made it easier to digest for the casual fan.
I would imagine it's Tyson as time goes by, I see many people who don't even watch much boxing still sharing knockouts of his on social media
I am curious the exact number for Louis vs Schmeling II ended up doing for radio broadcasting. Like "How many people listened to this live?" I am fairly certain that it was on top for a while with the whole pre-WW2 thing in all.
