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

[Reggie]

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.

Yeah and in the 80's and early 90's MJ had cats saying he was the best ever and that he was unstoppable on the court. So again I repeat that it isn't a stretch to say Jordan was the more known of the two.

 

[Carlos Huerta]

Yeah and in the 80's and early 90's MJ had cats saying he was the best ever and that he was unstoppable on the court. So again I repeat that it isn't a stretch to say Jordan was the more known of the two.

No.. definitely not a stretch at all. I honestly think this comparison is a tie.

 

[Reggie]

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

Just like i'm sure that Mayweather fight's will be the biggest event of the year it doesn't mean that the overall sport is more popular than another. You can bring up your age and what you know all you want. But on a global stage boxing was not as big as basketball in the late 80's and early 90's during the two Mike's peaks. So that's why I will continue to think that Jordan could have been and probably was more popular and known worldwide.

 

[Reggie]

No.. definitely not a stretch at all. I honestly think this comparison is a tie.

I think it's pretty much a tie too but when you try to give reasons that make you feel that perhaps one could possibly be popular than the other you get cats like NYC Rebel who wants to debate till the cows come home.

 

[NYC Rebel]

Just like i'm sure that Mayweather fight's will be the biggest event of the year it doesn't mean that the overall sport is more popular than another. You can bring up your age and what you know all you want. But on a global stage boxing was not as big as basketball in the late 80's and early 90's during the two Mike's peaks. So that's why I will continue to think that Jordan could have been and probably was more popular and known worldwide.

Mayweather fights do not discredit what Tyson was to the world.

You keep telling me "you can bring up the age thing all I want" because you KNOW you didn't live through it or was old enough to understand it. I DID.

Its amazing how you guys chose to deny impact you didn't witness.

 

[MVike28]

always gonna be some against the grain nikka who dismisses reality while pushing a false narrative..

I ain't mad at yall nigs..keep spinnin.

 

[Carlos Huerta]

I think it's pretty much a tie too but when you try to give reasons that make you feel that perhaps one could possibly be popular than the other you get cats like NYC Rebel who wants to debate till the cows come home.

you know Reb.. dude has a lotta tenacity

 

[BOBN]

I congratulate Jordan for signing that deal with Nike, his greatest career achievement. I was one of 10s of millions worldwide who thought he was just a very good shoe salesman until I saw the adverts. Im still waiting to see the actual games. He is huge in the same way that Samsung is huge. A great brand name.

In terms of sports Tyson was bigger, as a person he was bigger, he could be instantly recognised. He was depicted in Street Fighter II, a game bigger than life itself. Because no matter how much you want to delude yourselves, boxing was and is a truely global sport, while basketball was something to flick on when the Olympics is on. Like beach volleyball.

 

[Brozay]

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.

this isnt really the question though

who was more known/popular at their peaks?

i think its MJ.

 

[Carlos Huerta]

I congratulate Jordan for signing that deal with Nike, his greatest career achievement. I was one of 10s of millions worldwide who thought he was just a very good shoe salesman until I saw the adverts. Im still waiting to see the actual games. He is huge in the same way that Samsung is huge. A great brand name.

In terms of sports Tyson was bigger, as a person he was bigger, he could be instantly recognised. He was depicted in Street Fighter II, a game bigger than life itself. Because no matter how much you want to delude yourselves, boxing was and is a truely global sport, while basketball was something to flick on when the Olympics is on. Like beach volleyball.

this is subpar trolling

 

[MVike28]

Mayweather fights do not discredit what Tyson was to the world.

You keep telling me "you can bring up the age thing all I want" because you KNOW you didn't live through it or was old enough to understand it. I DID.

Its amazing how you guys chose to deny impact you didn't witness.

 

[mastermind]

this isnt really the question though

who was more known/popular at their peaks?

i think its MJ.

honestly, in America, I am not sure.

Worldwide, hell nah. Mike was bigger when he hit his commercial peak in the early to mid 90s, but in the US. Man Bo Jackson was HUGE.

 

[Reggie]

Mayweather fights do not discredit what Tyson was to the world.

You keep telling me "you can bring up the age thing all I want" because you KNOW you didn't live through it or was old enough to understand it. I DID.

Its amazing how you guys chose to deny impact you didn't witness.

Bruh I may not be as old as you but i'm well over 30 and I remember the impact that Tyson and Jordan had. And I KNOW that MJ has a legit argument for being more popular than Tyson. I ain't one of these 90's babies who talking about shyt they don't know and only read about.

 

[NYC Rebel]

Bruh I may not be as old as you but i'm well over 30 and I remember the impact that Tyson and Jordan had. And I KNOW that MJ has a legit argument for being more popular than Tyson. I ain't one of these 90's babies who talking about shyt they don't know and only read about.

I don't see how you can't revisit a time where Tyson fights stopped everything going on in sports and his presence was known around the world because heavyweight champ of the world was so tied to virile manhood back in the days.

Tyson was no doubt more known in his heyday than Jordan because pugilism was one of the oldest sports in world history that had world acclaim.

 

[Miggs]

I don't see how you can't revisit a time where Tyson fights stopped everything going on in sports and his presence was known around the world because heavyweight champ of the world was so tied to virile manhood back in the days.

Tyson was no doubt more known in his heyday than Jordan because pugilism was one of the oldest sports in world history that had world acclaim.

No doubt back in the 80s when the HW division was thriving the heavyweight champ was an icon globally..NBA back then wasnt quite yet a global phenomenon...