In their primes who was more popular Mike Tyson or Michael Jordan?

[MVike28]

Brehs my African uncles back home who spoke NO English knew and universally loved Mike Tyson.

Tyson worldwide and its not even close.

 

[mastermind]

It's hard to take y'all seriously when y'all propping up Bo Jackson as being more popular.

Yea I'm talking to you @mastermind

And Tyson being the most bad ass midwicket on the planet don't mean he was more popular that Jordan @NYC Rebel

all of this is wrong breh. Dont ever tag me unless you gonna be right.

 

[MVike28]

Anyone going with Jordan doesn't remember or wasnt around to understand that being the heavyweight champion of the world back then was top of the food chain of manhood.

In countries that don't even watch basketball they understood what the heavyweight champion of the WORLD meant especially since boxing was always the more global sport.

Mike Tyson was mos def more popular

like i said breh my village relatives had Tyson betamax tapes in the 80s..

 

[NYC Rebel]

Cats REALLY don't want to believe that Bo was as popular as MJ at one time?

 

[Carlos Huerta]

Well ok at both of there peaks I will still say MJ was more famous. And that's taking away nothing from Tyson. But with MJ on commercials several times a day his shoes being must have items and with people like grandmother knowing who he is I don't think it's a stretch to say he was more popular than Tyson. Yeah at one time the heavyweight champ was the most known athlete on the planet but by the 80's the heavyweight title wasn't as big as it was in the earlier day's even thought it was still a huge deal worldwide.

One thing that some of you cats are failing to include is that popularity should be seen through the eyes of ALL demographics, not just our own. I think when you are saying boxing wasn't as big or as popular in the 80's as it was prior, you are not viewing it through the eyes of men who were 30-50 years old in the 80s. These were men who grew up all over the world following what went on globally in boxing.

Muhammad Ali could only be rivaled by Pele or Maradona in popularity prior to the magnetism of a Tyson fight. the build up around Fights like The Rumble in the Jungle and Thrilla in Manila has never been replicated.. moving on, the 80's was an amazing time for all weight divisions and Tyson had men saying he was the best ever back then. His popularity was immeasurable.

 

[R.E.N. Spells Ren]

all of this is wrong breh. Dont ever tag me unless you gonna be right.

Lame response.

Don't ever quote me to say.....well, nothing.

 

[dappadonna]

Tyson TBH

 

[Carlos Huerta]

Cats REALLY don't want to believe that Bo was as popular as MJ at one time?

That is true.. but for the context of this thread, we're talking bout MJ in the mid 90's, the real height of his popularity. Bo was at his peak in the late 80's and Mike was still climbing.

 

[NYC Rebel]

One thing that some of you cats are failing to include is that popularity should be seen through the eyes of ALL demographics, not just our own. I think when you are saying boxing wasn't as big or as popular in the 80's as it was prior, you are not viewing it through the eyes of men who were 30-50 years old in the 80s. These were men who grew up all over the world following what went on globally in boxing.

Muhammad Ali could only be rivaled by Pele or Maradona in popularity prior to the magnetism of a Tyson fight. the build up around Fights like The Rumble in the Jungle and Thrilla in Manila has never been replicated.. moving on, the 80's was an amazing time for all weight divisions and Tyson had men saying he was the best ever back then. His popularity was immeasurable.

Exactly. There wasn't a barber shop one could enter that didn't have an Ali photo in it wearing some Everlast gloves.

Tyson was the last of greats...

shyt...I'll never forget my father popping me in the mouth when I said I was rooting for c00ney to beat Holmes.

I was too young to understand the racial implications my pops was feeling behind it. I just hated Holmes cuz he beat Ali's ass.

 

[Carlos Huerta]

Exactly. There wasn't a barber shop one could enter that didn't have an Ali photo in it wearing some Everlast gloves.

Tyson was the last of greats...

shyt...I'll never forget my father popping me in the mouth when I said I was rooting for c00ney to beat Holmes.

I was too young to understand the racial implications my pops was feeling behind it. I just hated Holmes cuz he beat Ali's ass.

To this day, I've never seen grown men get so excited about a sporting event like they did for Tyson fights. Only thing rivaling that is if/when your country makes it deep into the World Cup. That's it.

Mike was this young ass 20 year old knocking out grown ass men in a minute or two.. They hadn't seen someone like him since Foreman, so he was like a new throwback in a way that they all got behind.

 

[mastermind]

Lame response.

Don't ever quote me to say.....well, nothing.

its the truth

you just dismissed the reach of HW champion of the world in the 80s because you a Jordan stan

and Bo Jackson was every bit as big a star as MJ in the late 80s. he won the heisman, was a baseball phenom back when it was competing with the NFL for the number one spot, and was a superstar for an iconic franchise in the raiders.

The Bo Knows campaign was every bit as big as those Mars Blackmon ads.

unless you gonna be right, dont ever quote me.

 

[Reggie]

How are you going to tell me by the 80s it wasn't as big? c00ney vs. Holmes was one of he biggest events on the planet. Dog...don't talk just to talk.

In the late 80's when Tyson reigned supreme boxing was not as huge as it used to be. c00ney vs Holmes was in 1982 an by 1988/89 boxing was not as big. So you don't talk don't talk. Basketball overall was bigger in the late 80's early 90's so it's not a stretch for someone to believe that MJ was more popular. You bought up the Holmes vs c00ney fight as one of he biggest events on the planet. Mayweather vs Canelo was one of the most hyped events on the planet too just recently but I don't see people saying that boxing is bigger than basketball just because of that.

 

[R.E.N. Spells Ren]

its the truth

you just dismissed the reach of HW champion of the world in the 80s because you a Jordan stan

and Bo Jackson was every bit as big a star as MJ in the late 80s. he won the heisman, was a baseball phenom back when it was competing with the NFL for the number one spot, and was a superstar for an iconic franchise in the raiders.

The Bo Knows campaign was every bit as big as those Mars Blackmon ads.

unless you gonna be right, dont ever quote me.

Um, no, I didn't dismiss Tyson's popularity. I said MJ was more popular at his height. Cuz he was. Y'all just have this nostalgic attachment for a time when boxing mattered. Jordan was a fukking brand.


And with Bo, was the late eighties Michael's prime?

Don't ever quote me unless you're gonna let the goal posts stay where they are.

Edit: and lmao @ labeling me a Jordan Stan....any other cliched responses you wanna go through?

 

[TheProfessor]

Mike Tyson in his prime was the biggest athlete in the world. Bar none.

 

[NYC Rebel]

In the late 80's when Tyson reigned supreme boxing was not as huge as it used to be. c00ney vs Holmes was in 1982 an by 1988/89 boxing was not as big. So you don't talk don't talk. Basketball overall was bigger in the late 80's early 90's so it's not a stretch for someone to believe that MJ was more popular. You bought up the Holmes vs c00ney fight as one of he biggest events on the planet. Mayweather vs Canelo was one of the most hyped events on the planet too just recently but I don't see people saying that boxing is bigger than basketball just because of that.

Tyson vs. Spinks in 88 wasn't the biggest sporting event of the 80s?

The fight also surpassed the 1987 Super Bowl as the highest-grossing single day sporting event in history