Where do GOATs of different sports stand in comparison?

[Bhaijaan]

Like for example Michael Jordan vs Messi, who's the greater sportsman?

Bradman vs Federer?

Mohammad Ali vs Michael Schumacher?

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Like for example Michael Jordan vs Messi, who's the greater sportsman?

Bradman vs Federer?

Mohammad Ali vs Michael Schumacher?

Sachin Tendulkar vs Maria Sharapova?

 

[bones]

Bradman vs Federer?

Bradman was so far ahead and still is of anyone that you'd need to compare him to someone else who was that far ahead in their sport.

Federer has benefited from Covid19 more than any of the great sportsmen you've mentioned because in a it was highly likely that Nadal would have caught up with him this year in slams. Djokovic could catch up at some point next year. It would have been almost inevitable without this Covid19 break. Regardless Djokovic has been beating up on both of these guys for a long time now, you could argue he's better and therefore greater.

There are some sports that don't have the recognition of football or tennis so you can't create a fair comparison.

Jahangir won 555 matches in a row I believe - crazy to think that's not even the most dominanyt streak in a sport. But aa lot depends on your competition.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Bradman is GOAT but it is also true he only played one or two challenging teams.

The competition other GOATs have faced is unprecedented

 

[Swashbuckler]

Unfair to compare GOATs of global sports like football, tennis, athletics, swimming with those of minor sports like rugby, cricket, badminton, ping pong, wrestling let alone squash, kabaddi, bowling, rowing, shooting, archery. All GOATs have to be respected but when competition in one sport is 1000 times more than another, I know which side I will choose. For me Usain Bolt is GOAT because 100m is something every human being on this planet has run at some level, and his records will stand for a long long time. A sport like cricket is hardly played by 10-12 countries, half of them being in South Asia which sucks at sports. Then there are some sports played by a couple of thousand people worldwide.

 

[Bigboii]

Sachin Tendulkar vs Maria Sharapova?

SRT hands down cause he rose to big occasions unlike her

 

[Bigboii]

Unfair to compare GOATs of global sports like football, tennis, athletics, swimming with those of minor sports like rugby, cricket, badminton, ping pong, wrestling let alone squash, kabaddi, bowling, rowing, shooting, archery. All GOATs have to be respected but when competition in one sport is 1000 times more than another, I know which side I will choose. For me Usain Bolt is GOAT because 100m is something every human being on this planet has run at some level, and his records will stand for a long long time. A sport like cricket is hardly played by 10-12 countries, half of them being in South Asia which sucks at sports. Then there are some sports played by a couple of thousand people worldwide.

wouldn't put rugby and cricket in same bracket as badminton or ping pong

 

[Swashbuckler]

wouldn't put rugby and cricket in same bracket as badminton or ping pong

Why not? All these have around 5-6 dominant teams at any point of time with the rest making up numbers. Rugby/cricket is played by sporting powerhouses like Eng, Aus, SA, NZ, WI but so are the other two sports, East Asian countries (and some Western European ones) are sporting powers if you look at the Olympics table. Both those sports are big in China, a country which even toppled the mighty USA in Beijing Olympics. Besides I am sure ping pong and badminton are more global in nature, in India/Pakistan/USA/Europe we will see badminton/TT clubs and tournaments, but cricket and rugby aren't played by most of the globe.

 

[andy0204]

Why not? All these have around 5-6 dominant teams at any point of time with the rest making up numbers. Rugby/cricket is played by sporting powerhouses like Eng, Aus, SA, NZ, WI but so are the other two sports, East Asian countries (and some Western European ones) are sporting powers if you look at the Olympics table. Both those sports are big in China, a country which even toppled the mighty USA in Beijing Olympics. Besides I am sure ping pong and badminton are more global in nature, in India/Pakistan/USA/Europe we will see badminton/TT clubs and tournaments, but cricket and rugby aren't played by most of the globe.

What about boxing and MMA?

 

[Swashbuckler]

Also TT, badminton aren't upper class sports, quite cheap, hence playing pool is much larger.

Badminton countries: China, Japan, Denmark, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Thailand, Sweden, Finland

TT countries: China, Japan, both Koreas, Taiwan, Sweden, Denmark, Nigeria, Germany, Singapore, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Austria, Brazil

Looks more global than cricket at least. And in East Asian countries their best sporting talent is attracted to these sports, not the case in cricket countries outside the SC.

 

[Swashbuckler]

What about boxing and MMA?

Defintely more global than cricket/rugby. In terms of popularity and reach those are comparable to tier-I (swimming, athletics, football etc.). But they have weight categories, so when we are talking about GOATs there will be one from each division, heavyweight, middleweight, lightweight, flyweight, many categories. Anthony Joshua is never going to fight Mayweather, Khabib and GSP aren't going to cross paths. But guys like Usain Bolt and Phelps have competition in all shapes and sizes.

Look at athletics, it is accessible to every one on the planet, I am sure you would have run sprints in your school. So when Bolt is the fastest sprinter in the world, it actually means no human in history has come close to doing what he did. The main thing which disqualifies other sports is accessibility, I am sure not everyone has been lucky enough to attend tennis clubs or join boxing/MMA gyms, sprinters (esp 100/200m) have a different level of competition.

 

[Robert]

IMO there are few equivalents to Bradman. Rocky Marciano, Fangio and Jehangir Khan. Can’t think of anyone else so totally dominant. Maybe Navratilova and Serena Williams.

 

[Kingpin786]

mohammad ali was bigger than boxing,he was appreciated all over the world

 

[Bhaijaan]

mohammad ali was bigger than boxing,he was appreciated all over the world

..and Michael Jordan transcended NBA

Retired, played baseball, returned to win 3 more championships

 

[ManFan]

IMO there are few equivalents to Bradman. Rocky Marciano, Fangio and Jehangir Khan. Can’t think of anyone else so totally dominant. Maybe Navratilova and Serena Williams.

Marciano?

 

[Swashbuckler]

Aleksandr Karelin 889 wins, 2 losses in Greco-Roman wrestling, for 6 years he didn't concede a single point. Bradman who?

Gretzky, Babe Ruth?

 

[Kingpin786]

mohammad ali was bigger than boxing,he was appreciated all over the world

But unlike ali he was not deprived of career opportunities

 

[Bhaijaan]

Aleksandr Karelin 889 wins, 2 losses in Greco-Roman wrestling, for 6 years he didn't concede a single point. Bradman who?

Gretzky, Babe Ruth?

Bill Goldberg's streak is also up there.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Bill Goldberg's streak is also up there.

Not talking about fake sports.

PS Great profile pic

 

[ARK Rafay]

Umer Akmal