Was Joshua vs Klitschko that big? How does it compare to Thrilla in Manilla or Rumble in the Jungle

It was different. Joshua was 13 years younger than Klitschko, a huge difference.

Klitschko also hadn't fought for almost two years. No one expected him to win, the fact that he came close surprised people.

It did kick start Joshua's stadium career though. He was fighting in arenas beforehand.

 

I know one thing for sure, whatever documentary they make about the Joshua v Klitschko fight, it won’t be as good as When we were Kings.

 

Raw population & money goy somewhat larger. Butt the hart & hope of the others, FOTC especially was much more notable!

 

You’ll need to wait until Joshua has long since retired to gauge it properly. If Joshua continues on his path his name will be up their, and this fight will be seen as one of, if not the highlight fight of his career.

 

It wasn't remotely as big as the the Thrilla or the Rumble, not remotely.

 

Thriller in Manila had a live gate of 27k, just for reference.

 

More money on the table, but likely didn´t have as big of a global effect. But time will tell.
Definitely a huge fight. Joshua was a nobody and suddenly everyone was talking about him. I swear, more people heard about Joshua before the Wlad fight than Fury after he beat Wlad.
This fight was huge, especially in Europe. A **** ton of non boxing fans were talking about it.

 

All a question of context really. Joshua v Klitschko was probably closer to Marciano v Louis in a Boxing sense. The three fights that you name all had their own unique set of circumstances.
If Joshua goes on to have a legendary career and becomes a Hall of Famer then the fight at Wembley may take on semi mythical status like the other two.

 

The thrilla in Manila had 100 million buys on closed circuit tv worldwide , the pre curser to ppv that’s how huge it was.

 

Not even close.... Foreman was essentially an undefeated monster who everyone was terrified of. He was the equivalent of a prime Tyson (when Tyson had that aura of invincibility) in the worlds eyes and Ali was hugely popular.

 

It don't compare at all. U had two prime HW fighters fighting. Everybody wanted to see it. Boxing fans and casual fans. That wasn't the case for Joshua vs Klitschko. U had an upcoming champion contender facing a past prime fighter on his way out of boxing.

 

It wasn't even as big as the Spinks rematch...

 

Back in the day, everyone on the planet knew who the heavyweight champion of the world was. Defending the title was a world wide newsworthy event. Today, there are several champs and only a small niche of people know or care who they are. Sure they can fill up a stadium and make a lot of money, but the societal impact of the event is not there.

 

It was the biggest HW fight in over a decade. Thats's how big it was.