Two Nigerians have been listed among ESPN’s Top 100 Most Famous Athletes Of 2019.
The duo of heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, and National Basketball Association star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, are the only Nigerians on the list.
It is only right that the G.O.A.Ts in both Football and Basketball are ranked 1 to 3.
Juventus ace striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, is the world’s most famous sportsman, with NBA power forward, LeBron James, coming in second, while Barcelona top-gun, Lionel Messi, is third.
American professional tennis player, Serena Williams, is ranked 17, and surprisingly, the only female sportsperson on the list.
ESPN’s World Famous 100 ranking is dependent on three criteria: ‘Search Score’, endorsements and social media following.
‘Search Score’ measures how frequent a person’s name is googled, based on an average of each name’s Google Trends peak score. In other words, how much a sportsperson’s name trended on their most searched day.
Anthony Joshua
The Independent
Anthony Joshua ranked the 63rd most famous sportsperson in 2019, has an endorsement value of $7m, against an average $12.6m.
The Nigerian-Brit’s Search Score is 27, with an average of 35, while his social media following is about 7.7million.
Joshua’s biggest moment came in 2018 when he defeated Joseph Parker on points at the Cardiff, and his successive 7th Round TKO of Alexandra Povetkin to retain his titles.
However, since then Joshua has failed to pull any serious weight in the heavyweight division, whereas his American and British counterparts, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, have both moved up the world famous ranks, following their iconic mega bout in December last year.
Wilder is ranked 34th, while Fury is the 39th most famous sportsperson in the world.
If Joshua wishes to return to his place as the world’s most famous boxer, he’ll surely need to surgically extract the obvious thorn in his flesh, Wilder.
The uncertainty in the heavyweight division and widespread doubt about Joshua’s ability to defeat Wilder in an undisputed match and retain his titles have only helped Wilder gain more popularity, leaving Joshua’s prestige to the vultures.
Mingling with the likes of Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller, only reaffirms the general conversation around a potential Joshua/Wilder fight.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Sporting News
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a new comer to the Top 100 list, and is ranked 85.
Antetokounmpo has an endorsement value of $13m, and a search score of 2 with an average of 35. He has a social following of about 3.5m.
Antetokounmpo has been a prolific professional basketball player for over six years.
Antetokounmpo’s incredible court-form and his big heart turned ‘the boy with enormous hands’ into a global sensation.
Featured image source: The Independent