Who was bigger in the 80's? Tyson or Leonard?

[FIGHTING_FLIP]

who was more popular in the boxing world and to the public?

[S A M U R A I]

Late 80's, Mike Tyson.



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[savorduhflavor]

Counting the whole decade, probably Leonard.

[Verstyle]

Tyson easily. Some say Tyson was the biggest name in sports in some of the years in him prime. OF ALL SPORTS.

[savorduhflavor]

Tyson made his debut in 1985. Probably wasn't HUGE till he beat Holmes, for better or worse, in '88.

Leonard fought Duran in 1980, just what, 4 years after the Olympics? Guy was a national hero. Between 1980 and 1989 was the era of the 4 Kings. Those, at the time, were the biggest fights in the history of boxing. I don't see how it's not Leonard, he was huge during that decade, he owned it, with barely fighting in it.

[Underdog82]

Well I was born in 82 and I remember on T.V it was Tyson this, Tyson that. Hell even though I was only 8 years old I remember when Douglas Knocked out Tyson and it was huge news.

I don't remember anything about Leonard. In fact I didn't even know who he was until the mid 90s. I guess I just missed him, timeline wise.

[Dan...]

Obviously Leonard. Tyson would not have taken over until the late 80s.

[Cadillac Man]

SRL was big but Tyson WAS HUGE...Think about this when the man fought on HBO 22 out of a possible 23 million watched him fight could you imagine a fighter today fighting on HBO getting 95 percent of it's viewers to watch? Tyson was easily the biggest name is sports in the 80's...Ask a young kid say 12-14 and I'll guarantee you they'll know Tyson beore SRL! Tyson is a living legend while SRL is just famous

[Arka]

Tyson easily. Some say Tyson was the biggest name in sports in some of the years in him prime. OF ALL SPORTS.

Yes,that is pretty obviously true.A greater number of people in the world may have known about the footballer Diego Maradona,but he was a relative unknown in North America.

Coming back to the OP's question,of course,Sugar Ray was the greater fighter,but his greatness in the ring did not outweigh the fact that he was a natural welterweight and Tyson a heavyweight.Being undisputed heavyweight champion of the world,in those days it was taken as given that you were the richest and best known athlete in the planet. Remember too that there was no MMA to dilute the attention of fighting fans.

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Tyson easily. Some say Tyson was the biggest name in sports in some of the years in him prime. OF ALL SPORTS.

There is no question that Leonard was respected within the boxing community at the time, but everyone knew who Tyson was.