Who's the Michael Jordan equivalent of boxing?

Th eonly thing i know about MJ is that Nike named a shoe after him, and he played basketball
99% of the world knows who he is.

Everyone in here would lose their mind if some guy went "All I know about Ali is that he boxed and was played by Will Smith"
Everyone who isn't a stooge knows who Jordan is.
 
Ali or Mayweather

Both great in the ring. Mayweather is a great businessman, and most boxing merchandise seems to be of Ali
 
i think fighters many of them were dominant for periods of their careers just as dominant and great as Jordan was but all boxers have long, ugly declines, no one has a worse decline than a fighter. Jordan got old and stopped running to the hoop, changed his game up to a less spectacular outside game, less spectacular but not something people are gonna get weepy over and say "oh, he should have quit in his prime" I never was a hoop fan but i've studied this and that from different sports, no expert on any but boxing but I think Ali in the sixties or Ray Robinson as a welterweight was just as great as Jordan. Tyson was actually thought of in his time as a co-equal to Jordan before his implosion. go back and read the riduculous shit they said, people were actually saying he was the best ever, the best ever, that means better than any heavy and better than any other weight and look how he turned out. Jordan had the stability and the mental faculties to maximize his talent, Tyson didn't. Sugar Ray Leonard, Hagler, I hate to say Roy Jones because of how he didn't handle the full game, taking punishment and adjusting to age like some great fighters.
 
I don't think there is one, but the closest I've seen is probably Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali or Roy Jones, Jr. Michael Jordan is a special case of dominance, only really ever being challenged by Lebron James' performances; I don't think there are many 'MJs' of other sports.
Karelin in greco roman
 
99% of the world knows who he is.

Everyone in here would lose their mind if some guy went "All I know about Ali is that he boxed and was played by Will Smith"
Everyone who isn't a stooge knows who Jordan is.

Yeah, you do know you are posting in a boxing forum and not a Basketball forum?

And NO, i asked the 5 people in my house who he was, only 3 of them knew.

And 2 of them are teenagers(the other person was me(yes, i asked myself), and i dont actually know anything other than he plays basketball and has a shoe).

You think Johnson is more famous than Ali.......i think its time to stop trolling or rehab
 
Yeah, you do know you are posting in a boxing forum and not a Basketball forum?

And NO, i asked the 5 people in my house who he was, only 3 of them knew.

And 2 of them are teenagers(the other person was me(yes, i asked myself), and i dont actually know anything other than he plays basketball and has a shoe).

You think Johnson is more famous than Ali.......i think its time to stop trolling or rehab
Yeah well, your in house survey doesn't represent the consensus of the entire world. It's not hard to see how your circle of family and/or friends wouldn't know much about Jordan if you didn't. Unless you are really talking about some guy name Johnson..lol
Michael Jordan is and always will be more famous than Muhammad Ali. At the very least, the same.
 
Yeah well, your in house survey doesn't represent the consensus of the entire world. It's not hard to see how your circle of family and/or friends wouldn't know much about Jordan if you didn't. Unless you are really talking about some guy name Johnson..lol
Michael Jordan is and always will be more famous than Muhammad Ali. At the very least, the same.
Wow, I always believed Ali was the biggest sports figure ever
 
Africans know what Jordans are to wear on their feet, but they know who the fuck Ali was
 
Africans know what Jordans are to wear on their feet, but they know who the fuck Ali was
how do you know that? he fought in zaire and i'm sure they still talk about him there. it's been 40 years since his prime so i don't know how well known he is worldwide anymore but there was a time when he was possible the most recognizable face on the planet. jordan is just a basketball player, not a world figure in that way.
 
not to say with media being different he may not be more popular, different eras, Michael Jackson was likewise very popular probably more than either worldwide but a lot of that is with the help of modern media. Ali wasn't a product like those two guys were, his fame came about partly because of his sport, his mouth, his talent but also because he became a muslim which had to make him known in muslim countries where they often didn't even know what boxing was. For whatever reason, there were parades in india and africa after his career was over, people just loved him, one of my fave storie, think it was in 75 in malaysia, some malaysian guy came up and told ali he was naming his baby after him. the guy was more than a boxer. Jordan has no presence off the court.
 
how do you know that? he fought in zaire and i'm sure they still talk about him there. it's been 40 years since his prime so i don't know how well known he is worldwide anymore but there was a time when he was possible the most recognizable face on the planet. jordan is just a basketball player, not a world figure in that way.
I guess we have to wait another 30 years before we see how Jordan fares in popularity. Of course in his prime Ali was the most recognizable man on the planet, but as you said it's been 40 years and now maybe not so much. He still remains a polarizing figure for all that he was, but at the current time Michael Jordan is more recognizable to more generations than Muhammad Ali. Don't let Ali's political stances, trump everything else. Mike's global effect was much more profound from a stylistic, sports culture and financial standpoint.

You really can't minimize the global effect Michael Jordan had on the entire culture of not just basketball but sport in general. Most of that can be attributable to Nike and their brilliant character/brand campaign over the time of Jordan's career. They brought the world to attention of Jordan, and all he had to do during that time was perform to the level of being considered the greatest basketball player of all time, basically live up to what was promised.

During that time Michael's style of wearing his uniform for his personal comfort ended up being a staple of how uniforms are designed and worn by players all over the world today at all levels, 25 years after his prime. The bald headded, long baggy shorts swagger that became seen everywhere on players from youth to the pros in the 90s - 2000s. Why? Because it was cool. Why was it cool? Because the greatest of all-time with all the flair grace and dominance during his time did it that way. Why do stars on most basketball teams have the number 23 on their jerseys, including the current greatest B-ball player in the world. Because that was Michael Jordan's number. The cultural effects on all facets of basketball, has carried over to other sports we see today as well. Over the last 20 years Jordan has become a literal financial juggarnaught spanning the globe. It's called the Jordan Brand. And this is a real thing, sponsored by Nike. Youth and interscholastic, professional sports clamor for the Jordan "Jumpman" gear, from baseball to soccer to football, BOXING and many more. Because of that, Michael Jordan and his likeness is recognizable all over the world this very day. He is a world figure in every sense of the definition.

If you don't think basketball is a global sport then you clearly just don't know the sport at all. And that's fine, it's not or hasn't been your thing. It's the number one sport in MANY major countries around the world (13).
Saying Michael Jordan was just a basketball player is extremely naive.

Oh and for the OP; Roy Jones Jr was probably the closest thing to Michael Jordan in his prime, he did amazing things no ne else in the sport could do in a dominating fashion and with style and brashness. Oh and guess what, he wore Jordan Jumpman gear...
 
I don't think there is an equivalent. That man transcended his sport. I don't know any boxer that did that to the extent he did. Maybe Ali, but that's debatable.

He's worth over a billion dollars. Not even Floyd is on his level money wise. Granted he has about 15 years on Floyd, but MJ got his wealth outside of playing basketball. Put his name on a product and it sells. Can we say the same for Mayweather? His fights sell, but I don't think he is branded like Jordan. I don't know if he'll catch up outside of fighting. Both rich however, so I can't hate. lol

As far as dominance? Jordan played everybody: Thomas, Drexler, Bird, Shaq, Kobe, Miller, Barkley, Malone, Ewing, Johnson. It is debated whether or not Floyd timed his fights when they were best for him. De La Hoya, and Mosley I believe were over the hill of their careers. The Pacquiao fight took forever.

I don't know, I think it's a tough one to put a boxer on Jordan level overall.
 
I guess we have to wait another 30 years before we see how Jordan fares in popularity. Of course in his prime Ali was the most recognizable man on the planet, but as you said it's been 40 years and now maybe not so much. He still remains a polarizing figure for all that he was, but at the current time Michael Jordan is more recognizable to more generations than Muhammad Ali. Don't let Ali's political stances, trump everything else. Mike's global effect was much more profound from a stylistic, sports culture and financial standpoint.

You really can't minimize the global effect Michael Jordan had on the entire culture of not just basketball but sport in general. Most of that can be attributable to Nike and their brilliant character/brand campaign over the time of Jordan's career. They brought the world to attention of Jordan, and all he had to do during that time was perform to the level of being considered the greatest basketball player of all time, basically live up to what was promised.

During that time Michael's style of wearing his uniform for his personal comfort ended up being a staple of how uniforms are designed and worn by players all over the world today at all levels, 25 years after his prime. The bald headded, long baggy shorts swagger that became seen everywhere on players from youth to the pros in the 90s - 2000s. Why? Because it was cool. Why was it cool? Because the greatest of all-time with all the flair grace and dominance during his time did it that way. Why do stars on most basketball teams have the number 23 on their jerseys, including the current greatest B-ball player in the world. Because that was Michael Jordan's number. The cultural effects on all facets of basketball, has carried over to other sports we see today as well. Over the last 20 years Jordan has become a literal financial juggarnaught spanning the globe. It's called the Jordan Brand. And this is a real thing, sponsored by Nike. Youth and interscholastic, professional sports clamor for the Jordan "Jumpman" gear, from baseball to soccer to football, BOXING and many more. Because of that, Michael Jordan and his likeness is recognizable all over the world this very day. He is a world figure in every sense of the definition.

If you don't think basketball is a global sport then you clearly just don't know the sport at all. And that's fine, it's not or hasn't been your thing. It's the number one sport in MANY major countries around the world (13).
Saying Michael Jordan was just a basketball player is extremely naive.

Oh and for the OP; Roy Jones Jr was probably the closest thing to Michael Jordan in his prime, he did amazing things no ne else in the sport could do in a dominating fashion and with style and brashness. Oh and guess what, he wore Jordan Jumpman gear...
Accurate post, NL. I never was a basket ball guy, I mean I enjoy a game here and there, it is exciting, but Im just not a team sport kinda person... but those 6 rings Jordan led his team to meant something to every Chicagoan even if they act like they're too cool for the game.

MJ spoiled this city ROTTEN. Growing up in Chicago, I was under the illusion as a kid the NBA was built around the story of the Bulls, and Chicago was the center of the universe. The entire world sang MJs praises, and all my friends repped a Bulls jersey, everyone from Pippen to Kukoch if it wasn't a 23 jersey, that is. That, or a Walter Payton jersey.
 
Sugar Ray Leonard has a few similarities. He was a household name that transcended boxing in the 80s and 90s. He retired prematurely and came back a few times like Jordan did. But yeah, not quite at MJs level.
 
Prime RJJ for me.

Completely superior athlete no matter who he was in with. Different level.
 
to my knowledge, soccer is a much bigger worldwide sport than basket ball, and even in ali's era people were saying pele was more popular than ali worldwide. And you are really just bolstering my point calling Jordan a "brand" in Ali's time such a concept would be seen as an insult, not that people didn't do it, colonel tom parker called Elvis presley a "product" but not without people thinking it was crass. And Jordan had no presence, no social conscience he was as vacuous as a good "brand" should be, there was nothing revolutionary or threatening or compelling about him off court. And for those of you who tell me to stay in my lane, yes, i know jordan has fans, i'm just speaking for myself and those of us like me who are sort of old school, and there are many of us, one article said he had the social conscience of a potato, sounds about right. I loved the story about Wilt shutting Mike down by ending an arguement about who's greater by saying "they changed the rules to make it harder for me and they changed them to make it easier for you". Great athlete, no doubt, from everything i've read, he had as great a champions mentality as anyone but just a different man, boxers in that era and today are different than they were before too, people have changed----alot. And Roy Jones had the athleticism and maybe if he'd aged as well as Jordan or ali or robinson, people would remember him more highly. Tyson was the guy, his contemporary who really should have been an equal and looked like he would until he lost to douglas, givens and washington.

I guess we have to wait another 30 years before we see how Jordan fares in popularity. Of course in his prime Ali was the most recognizable man on the planet, but as you said it's been 40 years and now maybe not so much. He still remains a polarizing figure for all that he was, but at the current time Michael Jordan is more recognizable to more generations than Muhammad Ali. Don't let Ali's political stances, trump everything else. Mike's global effect was much more profound from a stylistic, sports culture and financial standpoint.

You really can't minimize the global effect Michael Jordan had on the entire culture of not just basketball but sport in general. Most of that can be attributable to Nike and their brilliant character/brand campaign over the time of Jordan's career. They brought the world to attention of Jordan, and all he had to do during that time was perform to the level of being considered the greatest basketball player of all time, basically live up to what was promised.

During that time Michael's style of wearing his uniform for his personal comfort ended up being a staple of how uniforms are designed and worn by players all over the world today at all levels, 25 years after his prime. The bald headded, long baggy shorts swagger that became seen everywhere on players from youth to the pros in the 90s - 2000s. Why? Because it was cool. Why was it cool? Because the greatest of all-time with all the flair grace and dominance during his time did it that way. Why do stars on most basketball teams have the number 23 on their jerseys, including the current greatest B-ball player in the world. Because that was Michael Jordan's number. The cultural effects on all facets of basketball, has carried over to other sports we see today as well. Over the last 20 years Jordan has become a literal financial juggarnaught spanning the globe. It's called the Jordan Brand. And this is a real thing, sponsored by Nike. Youth and interscholastic, professional sports clamor for the Jordan "Jumpman" gear, from baseball to soccer to football, BOXING and many more. Because of that, Michael Jordan and his likeness is recognizable all over the world this very day. He is a world figure in every sense of the definition.

If you don't think basketball is a global sport then you clearly just don't know the sport at all. And that's fine, it's not or hasn't been your thing. It's the number one sport in MANY major countries around the world (13).
Saying Michael Jordan was just a basketball player is extremely naive.

Oh and for the OP; Roy Jones Jr was probably the closest thing to Michael Jordan in his prime, he did amazing things no ne else in the sport could do in a dominating fashion and with style and brashness. Oh and guess what, he wore Jordan Jumpman gear...
 
Sugar Ray Leonard has a few similarities. He was a household name that transcended boxing in the 80s and 90s. He retired prematurely and came back a few times like Jordan did. But yeah, not quite at MJs level.
the retirements ruined that for him, he could have really built off the momentum he had when he quit. Not to many fighters could achieve his level of greatness with a career like that, he did. Great athlete.
 
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