I don't understand why Micheal vs Prince is a thing

I always see people saying the Prince vs Micheal was a real war between to greats and so, but I wonder was that even real? looking at both legacy, (I'm 22 so I didn't present both) I always known who's MJ, his songs everyone knows them, his dances, and even his numbers on YouTube and Spotify, the world is really still listening to him, on the other hand, I didn't know prince until few years ago, I have to admit he got a unique style, I enjoy him so much but it's more like, nobody seems to care? even his listening stats, I also have a problem diving in his discography, since rather than Purple Rain, I don't know what's his other great albums.

What's confusing is when I hear some old folks talking about the sales war between the two, or the throne of pop etc, I don't see the numbers can present if an artist is great or not, and I admit Prince is a great one, in all possible aspects, but I see no evidence of what the older guys say about the competition between both, was it even real? and if so, why prince didn't pass the time test, I need someone to clear things for me, thanks for reading