Who are Boxing's Superstars?

I don't understand why people say an athelete will be the next Jordan, or the next Pelle, or the next Hank Aaron. There will never be another Julio Cesar Chavez, Jordan etc. These individuals accomplished feats that are distinctive and will never be duplicated, maybe surpassed but never equaled. Ofcourse this wouldn't be a sport if camparisons weren't made, so if I had to choose which Mexican pugilist resembles Chavez the closest, it would be Marco Antonio Barrera. While Erik Morales holds the heart of the other half of Mexico, he is not a man of the people like Barrera is. This is something 'The Baby Faced Assassin' shares in common with Chavez. Morales is seemingly all bravado and keeps to himself most of the time. While Barrera on the other hand has an approachable aura about him. Another thing is, Barrera is not only passionate about the sport of boxing, but also about its history. When asked by a journalist about where he would rank himself among Mexican Boxing heroes, he said he would put himself at the bottom of the list. Marco then started going on a tangent about his favorite historical fights between Julio Cesar Chavez and and Azumah Nelson, Salvador Sanchez, Ruben Olivares, Humberto 'La Chiquita' Gonsalez and Michael Carbajal, Danny 'Little Red' Lopez and so on so forth. Erik Morales, when asked about his favorite moments in Boxing history, was only able to name a few and didn't know Julio Cesar Chavez beat Azumah Nelson. This doesn't take away the fact that Erik Morales is an excellent fighter, he's a warrior in the purest sense but I put Barrera ahead of pack in the race to Mexico's heart. All other boxers mentioned still have a lot to accomplish before they can be considered any where near Chavez calibur. Good post, but one error is that Sanchez beat Nelson, not Chavez. Chavez and Nelson were trained by the same trainer probably why they never fought, but seems like you may know this, you made a great post besides that error. But i dissaggree a bit. I think Morales is just as loved as Barrera, if not more. Barrera in the past has talked bad about the lower class Morales comes from, more so attacking Morales. And imo, Barrera has been tring to make up for those statements and Barrera is now a bussniess man who shares stock with Golden Boy so he has to be more presentalbe to the media. Morales is loved from where he's from, at least thats what i've read, Morales is more to himself then Barrera but Morales will always give you a straight answer. In the end their both great fighters.

Marco Antonio Barrera is still Mexico's reincarnate of Julio Cesar Chavez. Over the last 10 years, no one has captured more hearts South of the Border like the Baby Faced Assasin. Wrong! Just when he was getting labled a possable successer to Chavez he lost to Jones. After Jones, it's been few instances that I"ve seen the old KILLER Barrera, cause Jones made the Barrrera we know now, which is a boxer, though he still looks like the Killer I remember from time to time, the Killer Barrera makes an apperence. not sure about that. its a toss up between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales. and you could add Jorge Arce, Jose Luis Castillo, Antonio Margarito, Juan Manuel Marquez and Rafael Marquez and lets not forget Ricardo "Finito" Lopez I can aggree with that. But not many were labled the next Chavez besides Barrera and Morales, Lopez imo, brought his own style. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=begAEaP3aPU

I don't think Roy Jones was ever a super star, except to the people at HBO.

Vic Darchinyan is a STAR in Armenia and Australia. First EVER Armenian World Champion, ONLY current Australian based World Champion.

Man boxing has 16 or 17 divsions, I think boxings popularty would grow if they cut that in half, because now its a free for all and hard to track as a sport. Also maybe why its soo messed up too..you put two divsions together you can have alot of great fights. Agreed, there should only be one recognised championship per weight division thus making the fighters have to face each other outside of the politics.

Man boxing has 16 or 17 divsions, I think boxings popularty would grow if they cut that in half, because now its a free for all and hard to track as a sport. Also maybe why its soo messed up too..you put two divsions together you can have alot of great fights. This is correct, but I do think that boxing needs crossover stars who can take up leases in fans' hearts still. Look at the NBA, with it's squeaky clean image merely a facade for pot smoking men-children. They do community service stuff and give back to their environment. That stays with fans when they see this in their communities. Another idea for boxing is boxing teams, similar to the ones you see in the amateurs. Would you be more willing to root for a boxing team if they were part of a unit representing say, Pittsburgh, if you were from Pittsburgh? It could only help the sport's publicity within that market.

Roy Jones Jr., though faded and semi-retired, is still an icon to American youths, similar to a Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali the way he has inspires young people to lace up the gloves like no other fighter has. Making boxing cool is important to it's future, because todays youngsters want to be like Mike, and that's not Tyson. Don't be silly.

not sure about that. its a toss up between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales. and you could add Jorge Arce, Jose Luis Castillo, Antonio Margarito, Juan Manuel Marquez and Rafael Marquez and lets not forget Ricardo "Finito" Lopez I dunno, Morales never attained that distinction because of his style. Barrera's bodypunching style is far more appealing to Mexican audiences in terms of box office numbers. Morales is no less a warrior, though. Arce, Castillo, Margarito and the Marquez brothers will never attain to the adulation and reverance of Barrera. Simple as that.

Totally agree... I mean if you don't follow a sport imagine if there were like 50 different champions. You would never want to engage the sport because the task of catching up would be so daunting. Also the corruption may not be worse but it sure gets publicized more. I mean look at all of us...after at least 1 fight a month there is a claim of a robbery. What casual fan of sport wants to watch something when about 25% of the time the outcome is questionable.

I agree with Asian's concept that there are no more real "stars" in boxing. There are champs within different sectors of society, but no one overwhelming personality. Think about how the HW title holder was thought of 10 years ago vs. now or 20 years ago... boxing just isn't important to the average sports fan anymore. Personally I blame the corrupt sanctioning bodies and promoters for the garbage. It is really sad to think that soon (if not already) MMA stars are bigger draws than boxers. And when you look at what the future holds for a big star...Mayweather (too unlikeable); Pacquiao (not well known enough); Barrera (same deal); things don't look good.

Some fighters focus on other things so they can do something when they finish with boxing. I like how Hopkins did though he always knew he was a boxer and was able to fight into his 40's. I think you need some superstars because boxing isn't as popular. Agree people watch sports because of superstars. You need that one or two big guys that everyone is afraid of and dominates almost all his opponents. We just have had that in a while.

Some fighters focus on other things so they can do something when they finish with boxing. I like how Hopkins did though he always knew he was a boxer and was able to fight into his 40's. I think you need some superstars because boxing isn't as popular.

Marco Antonio Barrera is still Mexico's reincarnate of Julio Cesar Chavez. Over the last 10 years, no one has captured more hearts South of the Border like the Baby Faced Assasin not sure about that. its a toss up between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales. and you could add Jorge Arce, Jose Luis Castillo, Antonio Margarito, Juan Manuel Marquez and Rafael Marquez and lets not forget Ricardo "Finito" Lopez

That's an interesting thought, can you elaborate a little more? If fighters focused on boxing and not things outside of the ring like their image and outside projects, the boxing world would be alot better for it. Theres a severe lack of respect in boxing today.

Boxing needs less superstars and more boxers. That's an interesting thought, can you elaborate a little more?

you forgot Felix "Tito" Trinidad is a SUPERSTAR in PUERTO RICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is the people's champ and major icon in the Island. The next PUERTO RICAN SUPERSTAR IS.......... MIGUEL COTTO. You're right, my bad. I addressed him in the edited post.

you forgot Felix "Tito" Trinidad is a SUPERSTAR in PUERTO RICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is the people's champ and major icon in the Island. The next PUERTO RICAN SUPERSTAR IS.......... MIGUEL COTTO.