who was more famous in there era mike tyson or michael jordan?

[Barry Halls]

tyson was known worldwide. basketball is not big worldwide (though i guess a guy like Jordan is very wellknown in areas where basketball is a niche sport).

I'd say Tyson. As i remembered it, he was pretty much the most famous man on the planet for a while.

[jaded]

The licensing of the Jordan brand was a full time job for his lawyer just reviewing offers...it's not even close.

[jimmy1569]

The only reason everyone knew of Mike Tyson in other countries is because of his backpage tabloid behavior.. so yes everyone at one point or another knew of the 'crazy' boxer but it's MJ who outlasted him in the fame department all over the world.

[[ DUBBZZ ]]

The 1991 season when the Bulls won their first championship, Larry Bird was the Celtics' leading scorer, while Magic got "outmagic" by Jordan in the finals.

I'm a huge boxing fan but Jordan is arguably the greatest athlete of all time, and Iron Mike ain't even in the top 10, or even top 20...

That wasn't what i said. No doubt MJ is the biggest athlete of all time, I simply said in the mid-late 80's, Tyson was bigger. MJ was busy getting punk'd by the Pistons. Magic was still king around that time. Wasnt til the early 90's when MJ achieved that status.

[jimmy1569]

That wasn't what i said. No doubt MJ is the biggest athlete of all time, I simply said in the mid-late 80's, Tyson was bigger. MJ was busy getting punk'd by the Pistons. Magic was still king around that time. Wasnt til the early 90's when MJ achieved that status.

Remember it wasn't Mj GETTING punked.. it was his team & lame supporting cast. He was still by far the best player in the series & in the entire Nba. The Bulls finally got through against them & swept them once he got the help of his former soft teammates, In fact the Pistons were the last team to win a series over a full SEASONED mIKE & WE'RE talking nearly 7 yrs of basketball. He took out MAGIC & iSIAH iN THE SAME YEAR. tYSON mIGHT've been bigger for a brief period of time because of the rubbernecking trainwreck aspect but ONCE the world saw how spectacular Michael Jordan was.. it was over for everyone else aspiring to be more famous.. past or present!

[Barry Halls]

i think you guys overestimate basketballs popularity worldwide.

The same goes for american football which is even smaller. I couldn't even tell you 1 of the 10 greatest football players of all time.

[Chex31]

Mike Tyson. Basketball is not a world-wide sport.

[IIG]

This is crazy man... Mike Tyson was the man and all, but his popularity never came close to Jordan's. N*ggas was killing just to get their hands on the man's shoes. They swore they were jumping higher because of those ****s. People were lining up to buy his cologne, hoping to smell like him. Everything the dude did was iconic. The only person in boxing history that can even talk about a similar level is Ali.

[Mr Randy Watson]

jordan is GOD.

[Barry Halls]

This is crazy man... Mike Tyson was the man and all, but his popularity never came close to Jordan's. N*ggas was killing just to get their hands on the man's shoes. They swore they were jumping higher because of those ****s. People were lining up to buy his cologne, hoping to smell like him. Everything the dude did was iconic. The only person in boxing history that can even talk about a similar level is Ali.

.... in the U.S.A.

Just a FYI: Usa = 5 % of the earths population.