Boxing

Boxing seems to have made a comeback, against all expectations.  MMA and other hybrid fighting sports were supposed to have pushed it aside, but somehow, people care about a variety of weight divisions again.  In the 1950s in America, boxing and thoroughbred racing were big televised sports.  I recall the tail end of that in my own 1960s glued-to-the-screen era. But after Hagler-Leonard and Tyson-Holyfield things trended downward.  A few fighters were dramatic enough to buck the trend, but not many.

I suspect the resurgence owes much to the internationalism of watching matches live.  Other countries have gotten involved and bring their own fan bases in.

Tyson Fury is pretty amazing and it is fun to imagine him against Ali, Marciano, Louis. He is enormous and very powerful, but a lot of fighters have been big.  He is also a skilled boxer, which the large ones seldom are.  He is not as skilled as a Mike Tyson or a George Foreman was, but he's no slouch.  That, and his amazing reach and power make him interesting to speculate about.