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Who is the greatest sportsman ever?

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Think Seb Coe on this one, 3 world records in 41 days and Olympic titles in the strongest era for athletics generally, also achieved a lot after his career is over ( I know some on the poll can't have done this as they're still competing though to be fair :tongue:

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Reply 21

FKLW

Steve Redgrave anyone?

I would also say Ali.

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Reply 22

username310124

If it's on sporting merit alone, Ali is no where near a top 10 let alone number 1.

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Reply 23

FKLW

Original post by CB91

If it's on sporting merit alone, Ali is no where near a top 10 let alone number 1.

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I disagree. He'd still be top 10 though I agree he wouldn't be number 1. But all. Factors considered he is by far and large the greatest sportsman of all time.

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Reply 24

username310124

Original post by FKLW

I disagree. He'd still be top 10 though I agree he wouldn't be number 1. But all. Factors considered he is by far and large the greatest sportsman of all time.

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I wouldnt even put him in the Top 5 boxers of all time, nvm all sportsmen.

When you take into account his impact outside of the ring then yeah he'd be Top 5.

Reply 25

FKLW

Original post by CB91

I wouldnt even put him in the Top 5 boxers of all time, nvm all sportsmen.

When you take into account his impact outside of the ring then yeah he'd be Top 5.

Agree wrt his impact outside the ring boosting his status but out of curiosity which would be your top 5 boxers? I'm only aware of 1960+ so can't comment on anyone before that so that's why I'm asking.

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Reply 26

manchesterunited15

Original post by CB91

I wouldnt even put him in the Top 5 boxers of all time, nvm all sportsmen.

When you take into account his impact outside of the ring then yeah he'd be Top 5.

Yeah "sportsman" is slightly ambiguous but I meant it to be based on ability alone so 'athlete' is probably the better word.

Reply 27

Arkasia

Surprised you didn't include Don Bradman, considering his achievement is probably the greatest out of any sport, ever.

Reply 28

username310124

Original post by FKLW

Ive not really watched much pre 50's except Sugar Ray Robinson and Dempsey but in no order; SRRobinson, Duran, Whittaker, Mayweather, Pacquaio. Theres not really much between those 5 and Monzon, Hagler, Hearns, Chavez, SRLeonard and Ali tho tbh. Id love to put Roy Jones Jr in there, he was probably the most naturally gifted fighter ever but he fought bums for 99% of his career.

Id say hes definitely Top 3 ever in the Heavyweights, probably number 1 really. Imo Lennox Lewis had the tools to take apart any Heavyweight in history but he was in a poor era.

Reply 29

username1341660

Freddie Flintoff!!!!!!!!!!!
Boxer and cricketer hey. Won us the memorable Ashes!!!

Bobby Moore- Seriously, Leading England(out of all teams) to winning the World Cup is not easy! See this times World Cup an you will respect him more.

Oliver Kahn- dunno why but this guy is probably the best goalkeeper IMO and he's pretty underrated and idk why but I respect this guy. Getting a lower than average German team to nearly win the World Cup is just amazing .

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Reply 30

FKLW

Original post by CB91

Pacquaio is an interesting choice tbh. I would personally say that Mayweather is the legend but not Manny, I think to gain that status they need to fight and Pacquaio end his unbeaten streak. Also no Tyson? A bit of a **** but watching him was just wow. Honourable mention for Calzaghe, although not a top 5 boxer still a legend of the game.

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Fedor Emelianenko

Original post by manchesterunited15

Title.

I voted for usain but it didnt work:P

anyways....

Muhammad ali what a man

he did a very famous interview in ireland...wow it was amazing..he loved it

he travels here now as some of his descendants come clare in ireland :smile:

such a character...really likeable and hes not afraid to be himself

Reply 33

NathanW18

Tiger Woods. At the top for the longest ass time. Played well in almost every tournament he played in. His form dipped after the scandal and his back problems. Still hoping he can get back to the top. A legend in my eyes.

Reply 34

KrazyKoala

Bradman. No other sportsman was so ahead of every other cricketer. He averaged near 100 when batsmen in those days averaged 30s. And just under twice as much as the guys second to him. I read an article how he was statistically the best sportsman ever.

Can't believe he's not in the poll.

Many are saying Mohammed Ali, whom no doubt was the most influential, but I'm not sure he was a huge amount better than the next best guy when it actually came to the sport. Not the extent of guys like Bradman.

I'm no big fan of running, but it's pretty significant how Bolt has broken the records and seems to be a distance ahead of the next guy (in terms of 100m running time). As well as holding the WR for 200m and in the relay. And when you look at him, it seems as he's running within himself at the end. Even the guys near him, most of them have been involved in drugs, so you're not sure about the authenticity of their speeds, but Usain's clean. It'd be interesting if anyone can break his record after he's retired. If they do, then he'll be considered just another great. If no one can, that'd really be something, he'd be the fastest man who ever lived, and no one can reach those heights again. Whilst in athletics we see that athletes records always seem to be broken, not sure it'll be so easy to break Bolt's 100m record.

Reply 35

lamp-y

Don Bradman: statistically the greatest sportsman ever to have lived. There is a far greater difference between his level of achievement and that of the next cricketer (a Test average of 99.94 compared to 60.97) than between the top two sportsmen in any other sport.

What's more nobody will ever top his achievement, and I'm not sure the same can be said for any other sportsman.

Reply 36

jammy4041

Walter Payton...quite possibly the best running back to ever play Football, but a sportsman who did a lot for raising awareness with organ transplants.

Deacon Jones, Lawrence Taylor and the 'minister of Defense' Reggie White are also up there.

In terms of other sports though, what Federer and Nadal have done for tennis is just spell binding. Phelps and Bolt for their Olympic exploits. Also, Daley Thompson doing the decathlon.