Comments Thread For: Boxing's Biggest Box Office Draw Joshua Battles Usyk In Tottenham

[Oldskoolg]

I know this is going a little off topic here but it baffles me that the American fans are happy to pay such huge prices compared to what we get in the UK.

What’s the alternative? I don’t understand your statement….why imply that a group would want to pay more to watch a sport they should be free or basic cable like NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, Formula 1, Tennis, college football/baseball/basket ball, etc etc? Boxing and MMA are niche sports in the USA

[Liondw]

Impressive figures, although Lennox Lewis was a much greater fighter than Joshua is.

AJ is still learning on the job, and if he had to end his career with wins over Usyk and Fury, that's to be celebrated. If Wilder upsets Fury, well, there's a Joshua-Wilder fight that can be made.

Firstly though, a bigger task than some might expect for him against Usyk. I predict a scrappy points win for Joshua. I'd be very surprised if he ko's Usyk.

[Noelanthony]

I don’t follow….who coaxed you into it sir?

Rocky the biggest blower . He proclaimed Pac can sell out any stadium in the World. Anyway its not important I thought that's what you were alluding to

[BangEM]

Big Josh - the face of boxing!

[KingGilgamesh]

The article focuses on one of the key positive things about AJ. It's a zeitgeist thing, capturing the imagination of a broad part of the a nation, not unlike when England do well in the Euros of the World Cup. That's it.

To say, oh but it's only in the UK, he flopped in the US or to say it's a media construct, the public are easily swayed is to miss the point. As the article points out, he is bigger in the UK than Lennox Lewis was when Lewis was fighting Holyfield and Tyson. That's pretty amazing. Being big in America would be an extra level, but he doesn't have to have that for it already to be an amazing level of success. He's as big in the UK as any boxer has ever been. And that's with boxing being nowhere near a big a sport as it used to be. That is amazing in itself. And as for the latter, about how easily swayed the public is -- his singular popularity suggests this isn't true. If it is so eaily created, the media would have made an AJ before and would make another AJ after. Or have someone close to fight in the gaps when he isn't fighting. But there is no-one close in the UK.

It can't be easily created because there aren't many boxers who won a gold medal AND have the looks and personality. That doesn't suddenly mean that he represents boxing at its best. Neither does it mean that he's not a media creation. I thought the Euros would have been a good indicator of how tiring this attitude is considering how much England was despised despite having a talented and likeable manager and team.

I think the big thing Americans have is that he was spoken about as this next gen Lennox Lewis and didn't deliver. In hindsight it's not the fact that Tyson was pulling some of the biggest numbers boxing had ever seen at the time, its the fact that he was a phenomenal boxer and the youngest heavyweight champion in history. Joshua's fame and popularity have become more important than his boxing. So much so that he going into one of his most competitive ever fights and people don't even seem bothered. If the only thing one can recall as notable about your career is your revenue streams then it begs the question of how notable is your BOXING career.

[MPA2000]

Boxing's Biggest Box Office Draw Joshua Battles Usyk In Tottenham

He is? I just checked and Canelo appears to carry that mantle.

[Redgloveman]

The closer this fight gets the more I see Usyk getting the win.

He knows Joshua is going to tire at some point and he’s a real artist and a thinker in the ring.

[MrShakeAndBake]

Impressive figures, although Lennox Lewis was a much greater fighter than Joshua is.

AJ is still learning on the job, and if he had to end his career with wins over Usyk and Fury, that's to be celebrated. If Wilder upsets Fury, well, there's a Joshua-Wilder fight that can be made.

Firstly though, a bigger task than some might expect for him against Usyk. I predict a scrappy points win for Joshua. I'd be very surprised if he ko's Usyk.

are kidding? That fight would never happen, each side's would never wanted cross the atlantic. Thats why i respect Usyk! Dude is a road warrior with balls

[Rockybigblower]

It can't be easily created because there aren't many boxers who won a gold medal AND have the looks and personality. That doesn't suddenly mean that he represents boxing at its best. Neither does it mean that he's not a media creation. I thought the Euros would have been a good indicator of how tiring this attitude is considering how much England was despised despite having a talented and likeable manager and team.

I think the big thing Americans have is that he was spoken about as this next gen Lennox Lewis and didn't deliver. In hindsight it's not the fact that Tyson was pulling some of the biggest numbers boxing had ever seen at the time, its the fact that he was a phenomenal boxer and the youngest heavyweight champion in history. Joshua's fame and popularity have become more important than his boxing. So much so that he going into one of his most competitive ever fights and people don't even seem bothered. If the only thing one can recall as notable about your career is your revenue streams then it begs the question of how notable is your BOXING career.

Exactly. He may be boxing's most marketable brand....but he's certainly not boxing's biggest draw.

[Rockybigblower]

Rocky the biggest blower . He proclaimed Pac can sell out any stadium in the World. Anyway its not important I thought that's what you were alluding to

It is important. Very important.