Has there ever been an Eastern European fighter who was a big star in the US?

[iamboxing]

was kostya zu big in the us when he was around? i yhink i watched youtube clips of him on hbo?

[Johnny Steele]

He was born here. I went to his grave with my mom last year.

I think the primary reason for Eastern Europeans not really being stars here is because they were under communism/stalinism for so many years that they weren't fighting big fights as much as they are now because they simply weren't allowed to so it's hard to be a star when you can't even fight.

I think historically it was like Rocky 4 or something where it was US vs. USSR and the US were the good guys and the Eastern Euro's were the villains.

Well a more simple and accurate explanation would be that things are rigged against them in the US.

Just look at the Kovalev/Ward fights.

America is actually worse than Germany these days.

[SnoopySmurf]

Vassiliy Jirov would have become a great name had he beaten James Toney. The score cards did not tell the true nature of the fight. It was competitive but James Toney won clearly but not without taking some hits. Toney is normally elusive but it was not an easy win for him.

[Diego Rodriguez]

Golovkin is the only guy who could actually be a big star and that is if he beats Canelo in entertaining fashion. Considering he has only been in the States since 2012 and has yet to land any fighters with big name recognition he has done really well. His PPV numbers haven't been stellar of course but I don't know if I'd say terrible. His fight against Canelo could be the 2nd most PPV fight all time (well probably 3rd after Conor-Floyd).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay-per-view

[nubianpiye]

klitschko vs lewis 2 would have been an enormous ppv, and vitali would have been a big part of the draw for that.

A rematch would have been huge but I'm not sure vitali would have won Lewis came in out of shape heaviest he'd been in his career an in shape Lewis wins a hard fight ending vitali hype before it starts

[Prince Madison]

is there any boxer whos a star in america though, bar mayweather?

[nubianpiye]

I'm telling throughout history and America has had plenty of stars. It's say canelo is a star now also doing 900k v cotto and 2 plus million with Floyd more than even McGregor has done it's a shame the golovkin fight is so close to Floyd or that'd be another big one

[New England]

A rematch would have been huge but I'm not sure vitali would have won Lewis came in out of shape heaviest he'd been in his career an in shape Lewis wins a hard fight ending vitali hype before it starts

klitschko's chin was so good, and lewis was so old that that fight is a classic every time it happens. elieve me, if lewis was at a period in his career that all he needed to do was get in decent shape ot beat vitali he would have just taken the rematch. he was getting beaten up in spots. now, i'm not one of the scrubs who thinks vitali won the fight. lewis forced a stoppage with clean shots that tore him up. but there's no HW in history who just beats klitschko up. he's too tall, akward, strong, and his chin was way too good for anybody to take him lightly.

and it was definitely compelling drama to see such huge guys trade like that. usually HW are either too cautious, or if they're not cautious they aren't evenly matched enough for one to not get blown away with the power and aggression. the second fight would have been big on ppv [i'd guess 350-500k buys,] and win or lose vitali would have benefitted from the exposure. if he retired lewis with a knockout he'd have become a modest star.

[Mike D]

Golovkin is the only guy who could actually be a big star and that is if he beats Canelo in entertaining fashion.

Even if he destructs Canelo in emphatic fashion, he's too old to become a superstar. He's 36. After he fights Canelo, assuming he was to win, the next time he fought he'd be 37.

[KingTito]

Wladimir was on Conan.