Why are AJ and Canelo the two biggest stars in boxing now?

Good promoting, mostly aggressive matchmaking, and good nationalistic positioning; boxing is huge in GB right now and is big in the Mexican heavy markets.

Add to that both fighters are fairly inoffensive but have high profile promoters willing to be provocative to get the headlines for them; so they get the best of both worlds in that regard.

 

Their fanbases and nationality. Mixed in with competitiveness and you get a good product to promote.

 

Nationality - both have strong fan bases behind them.

Matchmaking - both were put in fights where they would get a lot of exposure and mainstream media. Canelo v Floyd and Joshua v Wlad. Canelo losing every round didn't seem to make a difference, he's then had huge fights with Golovkin.

Joshua also had an Olympic gold which can be a marketing dream and Canelo is pushed as the numero uno Mexican.

Both guys are the forefront of their promoters minds, they promote loads of others but these guys come first, media billing, advertising etc.

Women like then as well so good looking guys get more exposure I guess too.

 

Demographics - Both based from countries with a huge interest in boxing.

Entertaining style - Both are good fighters to watch and that attracts fans.

Olympics - Joshua had the biggest platform a boxer could have with a home Olympic games.

Well managed and promoted - Both were not protected much, thrown in the deep end early in their careers, Canelo vs Mayweather, Joshua vs Wlad. Fans admire fighters that take risks. It's why Froch became the biggest draw at super middle while Ward fought in relative anonymity despite being the better fighter and having the same platform with the Super 6.

 

Top class answers in this thread

 

The british love a heavyweight, Bruno Cooper(serious house hold names, nans loved them) etc and Canelo is a Mexican, there will be many stars in the future for the exact same reason, from the same place, its not necessarily all about them. It helps if there good fighters too lol

 

Promotion. Matchroom put alot of work in promoting Joshua, kept him fighting regular and kept his profile high and kept up the "the next big thing" story, it was relentless and the fans are always eager to follow the next big thing. And most importantly Joshua was doing his thing in the ring.

Oscar really pushed the Mexican thing, seeing the Mexican greats of the time ready for retirement he pushed Canelo as the one to step in and being the next in line. He also liked to hit the Mexican dates and Canelo became the man to take the baton off the likes of Chavez Sr and Marquez. Most importantly ofcourse Canelo was doing his thing in the ring. Also the money in the States is crazy, Oscar felt comfortable charging top dollar for tickets and PPV,s and as long as people are paying it they are guna ask for it. Who wouldnt?

You can promote as hard as you want to but you gotta get to a stage where you have cemented a real fanbase before these fighters take a loss, Joshua can afford to lose to a Wilder, Canelo could of afforded to lose to Golovkin and both would still do amazing numbers next time out. And i know Canelo lost to Mayweather but who wouldnt give him a pass for that? Same with a still green Joshua against Klitchko. Those are greats of the sport and even challening them got the respect.

 

I think they each are popular for different reasons. Canelo is popular because of Mexican nationalistic pride. Also the size of the fanbase. Mexicans are rabid about their boxing. The fact that Canelo is a light-skinned Mexican only adds to the fervor. Same was true for JCC.

AJ, on the other hand, is popular because he can deliver the goods. He hasn't faltered so far. As long as he can keep rising to the occasion he will remain popular. He is a specimen. Built like an action figure. He also has a decent sense of modesty and sportsmanship. An overall likable guy.

There is some overlap in that there is a degree of nationalistic pride for both fighters but clearly it is more significant for Canelo. Where they differ is how they behave. Canelo has become a diva whereas AJ has remained grounded so far.

I swear I am going to barf if I hear Canelo, one more time, talk about how he and GBP blah, blah, blah. He talks in this self-effacing tone that is totally contradictory to his behavior.

 

They both where promoted very well and both sellable characters In and out of the ring for a variety of reasons.

With AJ though it was a master stroke how they sold him. They pre built a path to a belt, and everyone along the way threw every punch with him, if that makes sense, it’s a snowball effect once you have a comadity you sell sell sell. And majority of the fans bought it

 

Both got the two most passionate countries behind them when it comes to boxing.

 

Both are great to watch,think about Andre Ward who was great at what he did but not fan friendly.Those two fight with their gloves and don’t do much clinching.

 

You could throw all the money in the world at both Fury’s and it wouldn’t make em any bigger as you can’t fool the fans.
Ward used to wonder why he never got the support that Floyd gets and imo it was entirely down to how he fought,never understood why some thought Floyd was boring as I buzzed off watching him.