I would never presume to second guess you lordstanley, but by far the most anticipated event in Detroit sports history was Joe Louis v Max Schmeling 2. No Lions game would ever come close to that. The whole world watched that fight.
And in my lifetime, the biggest, most anticipated event in Detroit sports history was Thomas Hearns v Ray Leonard I. That fight wasn’t just a Detroit sports event, or even a national one. It was a massive, global sports event