Is Anthony Joshua the most popular British boxer of all time?

[dirk2686]

The proliferation of television channels, mass-media and an abundance of choice means any sportsman these days is comparatively less well known than those of a previous era. If you only have four channels and a newspaper it's a very different ball game to five hundred channels and the internet.

In that sense Bruno was always going to be more in the eye of the general public, (hence, 'my grandma knew who he was.') That doesn't really indicate popularity though. The fact the Wembley fight sold dismally against McCall indicates that whilst a lot of people knew of him, they weren't too concerned with watching him.

Joshua is massively popular, but I think Hatton edges it for now. Joshua is big enough to sell out Wembley but at present it makes sense for his fights to be over here. Ricky had to go to America but had Floyd came to the UK it would undoubtedly have been as big if not bigger.

[Verdi]

I think Big Frank was more popular

There was only 23k at Wembley for Bruno v McCall. So while popular not as popular as AJ.

He was a bigger 'celebrity' than Joshua, but not as popular a boxer.

[Mimmy]

I think Big Frank was more popular

There was only 23k at Wembley for Bruno v McCall. So while popular not as popular as AJ.

He was a bigger 'celebrity' than Joshua, but not as popular a boxer.

I tend to agree with that as Bruno did more outside the ring to increase his popularity with the public, tv commercials, pantomines marathons etc where as Joshua hasnt done much it seems in the public eye yet but has a huge following just for knocking a few people out in the ring. He doesnt make himself commercial like Bruno.

[davie]

So was Froch more popular than Hatton, mimmy?

I wouldnt say so no. In my opinion Hatton was a more popular boxer. But Froch did not sell all those tickets.

And equally, the draw of fighting the long reigning dominant champ sells much of these

[afcmarshall]

Hatton and even Frampton took big support to Vegas, would be interesting to see how many would go abroad to support AJ let alone anywhere over ten miles from his house.

[freddydoesdallas]

There was only 23k at Wembley for Bruno v McCall. So while popular not as popular as AJ.

He was a bigger 'celebrity' than Joshua, but not as popular a boxer.

I tend to agree with that as Bruno did more outside the ring to increase his popularity with the public, tv commercials, pantomines marathons etc where as Joshua hasnt done much it seems in the public eye yet but has a huge following just for knocking a few people out in the ring. He doesnt make himself commercial like Bruno.

Not in the ways Bruno did but he's still a commercial whore (nothing wrong with that either despite the brutal name). He's got a huge social media presence where he's promoting whatever he can and getting direct contact to people. Someone mentioned on here last week that his whole thing in the Mosque in Dubai was some sort of Dubai travel company stuff

[mullenman]

Joshua is way more popular the Bruno..

Gold medalist that knocks everybody out

Last four fights on ppv all sold out arenas

Hatton still one but Joshua will pass him soon.

Bruno big fight had 24 so Josh way more popular

[mullenman]

Joshua is way more popular than bruno

Gold medalist that knocks everybody out

Last four fights on ppv all sold out arenas

Hatton still one but Joshua will pass him soon.

Bruno big fight had 24 so Josh way more popular

[orbtastic]

Doesn't Len Harvey hold the record for one of his old White City fights? Some of those guys like Harvey, Mills and Woodcock were household names back in the day before they even had televised fights or household sets etc.

[littlepug]

Joshua no where near as popular as Bruno, when Bruno fought Lewis EVERYBODY knew about it, same when he first fought Tyson, Joshua is not yet a household name in fact I asked 3 workmates if they had heard of him and none of them had a clue who he was

[mickey1975]

Joshua has the Sky Sports News viewers, 16-40, in his hands. Camp Eddie has done a fantastic job with him. Ricky smashed well over a million buys at 4.00am and took 25,000 to Vegas. I know Ricky was more popular. Bruno was one of the most well known men in the country with his "you know what I mean" and HP adverts. McGuigan united a nation, "leave the fighting to McGuigan ". AJ hasn't had that impact. Times have changed, the digital and social media age have changed boxing. I know a few going to the AJ fight who know very little about the sport. I hope Wlad does him, it will be interesting to see how many bother next time if he gets chinned. He's beaten Martin for the title ffs.

[EdwinValero]

Casual, possibly, hardcore - no way

Agreed. Media hype and social media have meant Joshua appeals to the casual (looks, knockouts, well-spoken etc).

Ricky Hatton for me.

[SteveO]

First off, there won't be any more than 90,000 in attendance, they have to think about the transport system & the roads

I hope the London Underground trains will be running late that night, I have to get back to Paddington Station after the fight.
Does anyone know what the situation will be?

[lillywhite14]

Not yet.

He has only been a pro 4 years though. How was Hatton and Bruno ticking over after 4 years?

If everything goes to Joshua's plan lets say, and he beats Wlad in style, then unifies, he'll become the numero uno I reckon.

He's unpopular on this board for some reason. He might be a bit of a media trained personality but nearly everyone says he's a decent bloke away from that, well apart from Whyte who is insanely jealous of him and can't escape his street persona.
Hatton and Bruno weren't media trained I guess....yeah right! Hatton's man of the people charade/ickle ricky stuff was fake. He seemed/seems an ego maniac who loved to refer to himself in the third person, it's why defeat and falling from the limelight has hit him so hard. Bruno? Clearly played up to the buffoon role for the publicity it brought, and why not? It earned him plenty of dough.

The dislike of Joshua seems to be based on a multitude of things, ranging from being fake to having had it easy etc

He beats Klitschko is fashion and he'll be huge.

[Verdi]

There was only 23k at Wembley for Bruno v McCall. So while popular not as popular as AJ.

He was a bigger 'celebrity' than Joshua, but not as popular a boxer.

I tend to agree with that as Bruno did more outside the ring to increase his popularity with the public, tv commercials, pantomines marathons etc where as Joshua hasnt done much it seems in the public eye yet but has a huge following just for knocking a few people out in the ring. He doesnt make himself commercial like Bruno.

I think the fact that many of the big fights in the 80s were shown on terrestial TV also played a big part in how big Bruno was with the mainstream public, as the number of viewers watching would've been far higher.

[darkstar81]

People are dumb and buy tickets if they are told it's a big deal.

Joshua may end up being the most popular Brit of all time but he's not there yet.

[mickey1975]

Not yet.

He has only been a pro 4 years though. How was Hatton and Bruno ticking over after 4 years?

If everything goes to Joshua's plan lets say, and he beats Wlad in style, then unifies, he'll become the numero uno I reckon.

He's unpopular on this board for some reason. He might be a bit of a media trained personality but nearly everyone says he's a decent bloke away from that, well apart from Whyte who is insanely jealous of him and can't escape his street persona.
Hatton and Bruno weren't media trained I guess....yeah right! Hatton's man of the people charade/ickle ricky stuff was fake. He seemed/seems an ego maniac who loved to refer to himself in the third person, it's why defeat and falling from the limelight has hit him so hard. Bruno? Clearly played up to the buffoon role for the publicity it brought, and why not? It earned him plenty of dough.

The dislike of Joshua seems to be based on a multitude of things, ranging from being fake to having had it easy etc

He beats Klitschko is fashion and he'll be huge.

What do you think of Fury? Couldn't be less media trained if he tried. Bruno and Hatton aren't great guys in my very limited experience of them.

[lillywhite14]

Not yet.

He has only been a pro 4 years though. How was Hatton and Bruno ticking over after 4 years?

If everything goes to Joshua's plan lets say, and he beats Wlad in style, then unifies, he'll become the numero uno I reckon.

He's unpopular on this board for some reason. He might be a bit of a media trained personality but nearly everyone says he's a decent bloke away from that, well apart from Whyte who is insanely jealous of him and can't escape his street persona.
Hatton and Bruno weren't media trained I guess....yeah right! Hatton's man of the people charade/ickle ricky stuff was fake. He seemed/seems an ego maniac who loved to refer to himself in the third person, it's why defeat and falling from the limelight has hit him so hard. Bruno? Clearly played up to the buffoon role for the publicity it brought, and why not? It earned him plenty of dough.

The dislike of Joshua seems to be based on a multitude of things, ranging from being fake to having had it easy etc

He beats Klitschko is fashion and he'll be huge.

What do you think of Fury? Couldn't be less media trained if he tried. Bruno and Hatton aren't great guys in my very limited experience of them.

I can't help but like him. If given the choice of having a pint with any of these names mentioned it would be Fury. Obviously some hate him, for the stuff he comes out with now and then and his background, which has played a pretty big role in how unpopular he is with some people but away from the hype he has always come across as a top fella imo. Likes a wind up and a pisstake it seems.

[dirk2686]

Joshua is disliked on here (not by all) because of the desire from some who view boxing as their favourite sport to not be associated with anyone who's just a casual sports fan.

[Stuarty]

He's well on his way to becoming the most popular at the moment but a shellacking by big Wlad could see that charge dramatically halt. Most of the AJ fan base is the casual fan and they are a fickle bunch. If he gets his ass handed to him in April a lot of his so called fans would've forgotten him by the May!

It's too early to tell yet.

[lillywhite14]

He's well on his way to becoming the most popular at the moment but a shellacking by big Wlad could see that charge dramatically halt. Most of the AJ fan base is the casual fan and they are a fickle bunch. If he gets his ass handed to him in April a lot of his so called fans would've forgotten him by the May!

It's too early to tell yet.

Then it'll all be about Okolie, followed by Dubious.

The British public do love a heavy

[Boxerbeetle]

As for ticket sales things have changed regarding promotion and entertainment, you get comics selling out the O2 night after night, would never of happened 25 years ago.

I agree with this point.

And also society has changed. Back in Bruno's day the crowds at live sports events were overwhelmingly male with the possible exception of Wimbledon. Nowadays a lot more women are interested in sport and this is reflected in the crowds.

Technology also helps. Back then if you wanted a ticket to a big event you had to go to the box office and possibly queue for hours to get a ticket, now you just click a couple of buttons on your phone so the casual fan is far more likely to attend.

Bruno is undoubtedly the most popular boxer in my time. Older fans would maybe argue that our 'enry was more popular. I don't think AJ is in that league yet.

There's also the social media factor. A large amount of people these days buy tickets for big events which they're not particularly interested in simply because they can't wait to show off a selfie of them at the event on Facebook. Vain though it may be, it definitely happens.

[jaymitch81]

He has solely sold out Wembley with a crowd of 90K and could be more in attendance if they release more tickets but has any other British boxer come close to sell out a stadium of 90K+ by himself.

Carl Froch and Groves sold 80 thousand tickets but before it was sold out but Anthony Joshua was also on the bill early on so I cannot imagine Froch and Groves did the selling entirely themselves James Degale also had a decent following so I would imagine he was also responsible for a good amount of tickets.

As there is no one else on the Wembley bill apart from Katie Taylor you have to give all credit to AJ for selling out Wembley single handedly.

So any other boxer done better than AJ or is he truly the most popular British boxer of all time?

I don't believe he solely sold out Wembley. Klitschko has a part to play in it. Do you think 90k would of sole for Martin or Breazeale? With regards to the undercard of Froch Groves I'd be surprised if AJ and Degale got more than 50 tickets each.
Degale has never had a decent following, everyone knows he can't sell tickets.

[dirk2686]

I don't believe he solely sold out Wembley. Klitschko has a part to play in it. Do you think 90k would of sole for Martin or Breazeale? With regards to the undercard of Froch Groves I'd be surprised if AJ and Degale got more than 50 tickets each.
Degale has never had a decent following, everyone knows he can't sell tickets.

Do you think there is any sizeable number really going to watch Klitschko? Or is it more the case that it will sell a huge stadium because it's Joshua's biggest fight?

I know the two are related, but I don't think there will be any meaningful number of people who are buying tickets because this happens to be a Wlad fight. Historically, Wlad in fights against non-UK fighters have received dismal figures domestically.

[Mimmy]

He has solely sold out Wembley with a crowd of 90K and could be more in attendance if they release more tickets but has any other British boxer come close to sell out a stadium of 90K+ by himself.

Carl Froch and Groves sold 80 thousand tickets but before it was sold out but Anthony Joshua was also on the bill early on so I cannot imagine Froch and Groves did the selling entirely themselves James Degale also had a decent following so I would imagine he was also responsible for a good amount of tickets.

As there is no one else on the Wembley bill apart from Katie Taylor you have to give all credit to AJ for selling out Wembley single handedly.

So any other boxer done better than AJ or is he truly the most popular British boxer of all time?

I don't believe he solely sold out Wembley. Klitschko has a part to play in it. Do you think 90k would of sole for Martin or Breazeale? With regards to the undercard of Froch Groves I'd be surprised if AJ and Degale got more than 50 tickets each.
Degale has never had a decent following, everyone knows he can't sell tickets.

I dont think british ticket buyers are buying to see klit. I have no idea how many fans over the north sea are buying purely to see klit. I would be interested to know that number.