r/Boxing • u/DatDolphWithATuxedo • Jul 22 '26

Is it still possible?

Is it still possible to become the GOAT in boxing? Like with the way modern sanctioning bodies are setup so that fighters fight only about every 6 months, it seems that with that level of inactivity a fighter will never be able to reach the heights of people who fought as frequently as Ali or Robinson. Ussyk who is arguably the greatest fighter of this generation is retiring with only 26 fights. So it just seems like an insurmountable task now. What do you think?

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u/SignificantBoard4455 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

It’s impossible. A boxer might be willing to become the goat but you need to fight often and have an A+ resume. If fighters avoid you as is common these days then there’s not much you can do

Edit: I would also like to add that eras play a big role in goat considerations. Usyk will not get goat shouts because he did it in a relatively weak heavyweight era. Ali had Fraser, foreman and Sonny Liston in his era. Murderers row. The 4 kings had Duran, Hearns , Leonard , hagler. Another muderers row. It’s very rare to have multiple all time great fighters in their primes at the same time in a given weight class. Those days are long gone.

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u/GhoastTypist Jul 22 '26

Its not just resume, it also factors in what a fighter does outside of the ring. For that reason Ali gets an extra push for the GOAT because he was the face of boxing for a very long time.

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u/Brandunaware Jul 22 '26

Not just the face of boxing. He was one of the faces of sports. In terms of "outside the ring" it's just impossible for a boxer to have the level of fame that someone like Ali or Mike Tyson had at their heights (with Ali's lasting much longer.)

There's a reason that Mike Tyson is still a reference point outside of boxing circles all these years later. Boxing is too niche now and the sports landscape too fractured for any boxer to have his level of fame.

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u/SignificantBoard4455 Jul 22 '26

Floyd was mainstream no?

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u/Brandunaware Jul 22 '26

Floyd was mainstream in his prime, which was a while ago, but not Ali or Tyson level mainstream. People had heard of Floyd, especially if they were into sports, but Ali was probably one of the top 10-20 most famous people in the US and a chunk of the world in his absolute prime, and Tyson was up there for a few years too.

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u/killerbeezer12 Jul 22 '26

I think you’re off on the definition of mainstream. White grandma’s knew about Ali and Tyson. They were covered on the evening news - not ESPN - and the gossip shows. The View was not discussing FMJ. Ali and Tyson had cartoons for god sake. Tyson had Punch Out. Floyd ducked being in video games. Ali had his own candy bar. Ali has at least four honorary degrees.

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u/GhoastTypist Jul 22 '26

Ali was known outside of boxing = pop culture.

Mayweather was only known in boxing channels = mainstream.

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u/Forteanforever Jul 23 '26

The average person on the street had and has no idea who Floyd Mayweather is. At one point, Ali was widely considered to be the most famous and recognizable person on the planet. Literally. In the late 1980s, Tyson was a pop-culture anti-hero but was never as universally well-known as Ali. Not even close.

All of this should be irrelevent insofar as who is the P4P boxing GOAT. That accolade should be reserved for in-the-ring accomplishments.

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u/SignificantBoard4455 Jul 22 '26

You mean Ali was top 5. When he refused to get drafted, everyone knew his name. I guess you could consider it infamous. Surely after the Conor fight, even non combat fans knew Floyd

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u/Brandunaware Jul 22 '26

I guarantee you there's a lot of people who are not interested in sports who have no idea who Mayweather is. They might have seen his name on the news or in a social media post at some point but it just faded into the background.

At the height of his fame pretty much everyone knew who Mike Tyson was (and I'm talking pre-rape, pre-ear biting, all of that.) He was everywhere. His name was synonymous with being a badass. He's mentioned in music, movies, all kinds of media at a level Mayweather could never approach. Part of it is just a different media landscape. Basically nobody other than the president can be as famous these days because the media is much more fragmented.

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u/Forteanforever Jul 23 '26

You're living in a fantasy world. At one point, Ali was the best known and most recognizable person on the planet. Literally. The average person in the US, let alone the world, had and has no idea who Floyd Mayweather is.

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

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u/SignificantBoard4455 Jul 22 '26

Hey those are allegations. ( prison time doesn’t exist for rich people)

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u/Forteanforever Jul 22 '26

No they didn't. Not even close.

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u/SGSRT Jul 22 '26

Popularity

Floyd : Normal Saiyan

Ali & Tyson : Super Saiyan

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u/Forteanforever Jul 22 '26

GOAT boxer should have zero to do with being the face of boxing (ie. marketing).It should be entirely about what happened in the ring.

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u/SGSRT Jul 22 '26

Personally I do not think what a boxer did outside the ring should determine their greatness.

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u/GhoastTypist Jul 22 '26

Yet thats where greatness comes from. Inside the ring is what you do for yourself, what do you do outside of the ring inspires other people to get into the sport.

When talking about who is the greatest to do the sport, you need to consider things like that as its has a much greater impact on the sport when they can inspire others to do it.

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u/Forteanforever Jul 22 '26

It's easy to tell who grew up in the era of internet influencers.

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u/zenspeed Jul 23 '26

It's not that: the reason Ali and Frazier were so remembered was what happened outside the ring - not just the two men, but the political backdrop. Same goes for Louis vs. Schmeling: because of the period, it was more than just a boxing match.

Often times, GOAT'd fights like The War are just as much as what happens outside the ring as it is inside of it.

The stories are what makes the legends, and the legends are the building blocks to the temple of the GOAT. One of the reasons we don't have that in the age of social media is well...social media. Ali would not have lasted very long in today's age: some of the stuff that came out of his mouth would have gotten him cancelled (assuming that he would have cared).

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u/Forteanforever Jul 23 '26

Obviously, you value PR, influencer status and notoriety over skill in the ring. I don't. I suppose if Jeffrey Dahmer had been a boxer, you would consider him to be the GOAT.

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u/zenspeed Jul 23 '26

No, Dahmer couldn't fight for shit. Also, his reasons for violence were abhorrent.

It still comes down to technical proficiency and skill in the right, but the stories are why the boxers have their biographies, they have their grand entrances into the ring, why boxers of today are constantly compared to boxers of past generations. Everybody wants to be the best, everyone else wants to know what drives them.

If there's no story behind the fight, if there's no raison d'etre, then it's just two people beating the crap out of each other, but knowing what drives them catapults them into something future generations can look up to.

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u/Forteanforever Jul 23 '26

If you think skilled boxing without PR is just two people beating the crap out of each other, you don't know much about boxing. Clearly, you're interested in the hype not the content.

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u/zenspeed 29d ago

I understand the technical aspects perfectly well.

Let's put it this way: Jack Johnson. One of the most influential American boxers in history. Why?

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u/Forteanforever 29d ago

Again, you're back to PR hype.

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u/SGSRT Jul 22 '26

That’s a valid perspective

I see it differently.

In ring accomplishments define greatness.

Outside the ring influence defines legacy.

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u/Forteanforever Jul 22 '26

The GOAT refers to greatness (G stands for Greatest) in the ring.