AJ loss: end of the boxing "fad" for casuals?

When I was a young kid at school, Pokémon was MASSIVE. everyone had red or blue, we all traded the cards 24/7, vhs cassettes of the cartoon went round like black market drugs. It was everywhere.

In the summer holidays I went to the states and I came back armed with loads of the new "jungle" cards and also a super rare ancient mew. I walked I'm on the first day of term, plunked down my new cards and waited for validation from my peers. Instead I got a couple of smirks and a "you still collect those?"

Work on Monday morning reminded me of that experience, all the casuals who would buy the matchroom ppvs even crappie ones like Whyte chisora, none of them had seen the weekends fights, they didn't even really want to talk about it . Preferring to discuss love island.

Is it just me or has the casuals love affair with matchroom ended?

 

My brother is 7 years younger than me, I used my milk round money to buy him a Pokémon card for £14 (2 days pay). The next week they gave out said card with every entrance to the movie!!

Anyhoooo back to boxing and no I think if AJ wins the rematch his story will be enhanced and he will be carefully matched and will avoid the big boys.

 

Until Joshua fights again we have no idea really.

If the fight ends up in Cardiff and he fails to fill half the stadium and only 200k buy his PPV then yeah you'd probably be right. But we're British. This kind of sh1t is gonna be mopped up by the fans.

Id expect the rematch, if done in the UK, to do massive numbers.

 

Terrible thread,

he will sell out Cardiff in record quick time for this fight.

 

AJ's loss has had more casuals talking about it than for a long time. If AJ had won not a lot woulda been said...Now the casual fan sees that AJ lost to a fat nobody not knowinng that Ruiz was pretty handy.

If anything his loss has had the complete opposite effect of what you say.

 

This could very well be the highest numbers for one of his fights

 

I’ve always said as soon as he loses 2 he’ll be a laughing stock. Just like Price is to the same type of people. The type who’ve never been to a boxing gym.

I think if he does lose again the bubble will have burst as there’s no Froch Groves type double like there was coinciding with AJ’s rise. All the other big names who Hearn made the casual know have gone now too.

 

In purely marketing terms, AJ has managed to mitigate the effects of his loss to a big, fat blob by saying how this is all part of his "journey" in that motivational psychobabble that millennials seem uniquely susceptible to, almost as if losing to Andy Ruiz was all part of the plan. Everyone loves a redemption story, so Eddie Hearn has ample scope to develop a promotional narrative and work his black magic on the casuals.

If he loses the rematch, however, his reputational standing will be somewhere between Peter Sutcliffe and Rose West...

 

I used to rob pokemon cards off nerds in school and sell them to other nerds. Moral of the story: Pokemon was for nerds!

 

I think a rematch in the UK does his biggest PPV Numbers to date.

 

thats all fine and dandy saying this sorta stuff online but would you really say that to mine and Raichu's face?!

 

Hawl you!

I replayed Pokemon Red on my wee brothers 3ds a wee while back and it still holds up today! Ahhh the nostalgia! What a game!

 

Froch Groves 2 was a 'casual' fight.

It's in someways easier than ever to get a casual market with social media/youtube etc.

Whyte v Wilder, Fury v Wilder, Aj v Ruiz 2 all very casual friendly fights in the next 9 or so months.

It's weird how boxing has this 'casual' snobbery around it. Other sports don't when they have a high rating final or competition. I think its one of the worst things about boxing fanbases. Snobs of any kind can do one!

 

“Wee”

 

With the Sky Sports News channel, Eddie's hyperbole and AJ going on talk shows the rematch will sell out Cardiff and do huge numbers on PPV guaranteed. Now if AJ loses the rematch then it's over.