"Easily Lionel Messi"; "Cristiano Ronaldo is the most known" - Soccer fans lash out at sportscaster's bold claim about Shohei Ohtani

ESPN MLB analyst Karl Ravech recently drew the ire of sports fans, particularly from the world of soccer, after stating that Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is the most well-known sportsperson in the world today. Ravech compared Ohtani to other sporting greats such as boxing's Muhammad Ali and golf's Tiger Woods in terms of name recognition.

Soccer fans, meanwhile, sounded off on Ravech's bold claim and gave examples of the following stars, such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Fans quickly refuted the MLB analyst's claim (ESPN/Instagram)

"Easily Lionel Messi," one fan claimed.

"Cristiano Ronaldo is the most known," another stated.

"Ohtani bigger than Messi and CR7?" A fan questioned.

The MLB analyst's statement on The Pat McAfee Show certainly stirred the pot amongst soccer fans. Supporters of soccer were so bewildered that other sports such as hockey and basketball were used as references to justify Messi and Ronaldo's popularity throughout the globe.

Fans continued to pour on the bold claim and even dragged other sports to the conversation (ESPN/Instagram)

"Messi is more known than the entire existence of hockey," a fan boldly said.

"I don't know about this one. CR7, Messi & Lebron are still playing," a fan shared.

"Love Ohtani. But, Messi is most know," a fan claimed.

From a social media platform perspective, MLB's biggest star, Shohei Ohtani, currently has 9.5 million followers on Instagram. In comparison, Messi currently has 505 million and Ronaldo, who is the most followed person on the platform, has 651 million followers.

Shohei Ohtani walks off the hapless Braves

Just when the Atlanta Braves thought that they would claim their first win of the new season, MLB's biggest star, Shohei Ohtani, quashed their dreams as the latter walked them off with a solo home run.

The face of modern-day baseball once again heeded the call of the squad during the Dodgers' Wednesday night contest against the Braves. After trailing 5-0 during the early stages of the game, the Dodgers tied things up by the eighth inning at 5-5.

Upon seeing the first pitch from Braves closer Raisel Iglesias, Shohei Ohtani smashed the ball 399 feet to left-center field for his third home run of the year. Coincidentally, the Dodgers were also celebrating Ohtani's bobblehead night as they clutched the game away from Atlanta.

With the 6-5 victory over the Braves, the Dodgers cemented themselves in the history books by being the first defending World Series winners to start the succeeding season with an 8-0 record or better.