Whos more beloved in Britain, Anthony Joshua or Frank Bruno?

[Doctor Grudge]

Respectfully disagree. While the UK has always had and will have a boxing culture during Bruno’s era it was far bigger than it is today I believe. Joshua has reached mainstream highs but not compared to bruno. A documentary about him had 3.4 million live viewers. World wide Joshua but I’d say in the UK alone he doesn’t come close to the fame Bruno had. Also I don’t even think beloved could be used in the same sentence as AJ

Everyone in the UK knows who Anthony Joshua is, so I'm not sure what you mean by doesn't come close to Bruno's fame.

 

[Boxiana]

Joshua doesn't come close to Bruno's fame over there? He just set the UK boxing attendance record. Almost 100,000 British fans were at Wembley Stadium to watch him fight Dubois. He also averages over 1 million domestic PPV buys and that's just in Britain. Now look at Bruno's numbers by comparison.

Bruno gets more than that for a panto performance

 

[Jonny Ninja]

Never been to England but as long as I've been a boxing fan, the Brits were said to rather have a lovable loser than a real winner. It was true for Henry Cooper and it was true for Bruno and it was true for Lennox Lewis who struggled to gain acceptance over there even though he was truly great. Before Joe Bugner sank into dementia, he was still bitter at how he was treated by the brits and thought he deserved better because he beat Cooper.

TBH that was an excuse and coping mechanism because all our HW boxers were shit! Henry cooper and frank bruno were likeable characters, and the public took to them. Joe bugner, not so much, but that was probably due to his win over cooper?

The most popular British HWs in recent years are our 3 most successful - Lewis, fury and Joshua. However all of those were polarising and had plenty of haters at home, but for fairly specific reasons

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Bruno gets more than that for a panto performance

What about his boxing attendance, gates & viewership? I've seen some of his numbers and they're not impressive at all.

 

[Jonny Ninja]

What about his boxing attendance, gates & viewership? I've seen some of his numbers and they're not impressive at all.

Good point and difficult to argue against!

Bruno was as much a celebrity as a boxer. Old ladies loved big frank because he was like a big, loveable giant, and very affable. He was a mainstream personality even though he was an average HW boxer (relatively speaking). He was easily more loved, but he had no where near as many actual fans as Joshua

 

[mozfonky]

TBH that was an excuse and coping mechanism because all our HW boxers were shit! Henry cooper and frank bruno were likeable characters, and the public took to them. Joe bigger, not so much, but that was probs my due ti gis win over cooper?

The most popular British HWs in recent years are our 3 most successful - Lewis, fury and Joshua. However all of those were polarising and had plenty of haters at home, but for fairly specific reasons

You would know, I never been there. I'm just repeating what I've read since I was 13. Just watch the tyson 1 prefight stuff and HBO did a pretty good analysis of Bruno's adoration over there. Truth be told, as I've said, Bruno was a good fighter, just had some weaknesses that cost him in big fights. Cooper was a good fighter with a potent left hook but he cut too easily. He was fast and skilled. Bugner, as far as I heard, was really never accepted in England. Really good fighter in the golden age of heavyweights, kind of like a white Ali, very fast hands, great chin but not so strong upstairs. Gave Joe Frazier a really good fight and lost to Ali twice, the second time because "it was too hot in malaysia" which is kinda one of the things that the mental questions always lingered.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Good point and difficult to argue against!

Bruno was as much a celebrity as a boxer. Old ladies loved big frank because he was like a big, loveable giant, and very affable. He was a mainstream personality even though he was an average HW boxer (relatively speaking). He was easily more loved, but he had no where near as many actual fans as Joshua

Agreed. Bruno is definitely more likeable and very much the gentle giant type. It's no-contest.

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

Joshua doesn't come close to Bruno's fame over there? He just set the UK boxing attendance record. Almost 100,000 British fans were at Wembley Stadium to watch him fight Dubois. He also averages over 1 million domestic PPV buys and that's just in Britain. Now look at Bruno's numbers by comparison.

Bruno transcended boxing and was far more well known certainly more beloved. Bruno’s numbers? Well 10m watched his fight with Marin in the UK alone.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Bruno by far.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Bruno transcended boxing and was far more well known certainly more beloved. Bruno’s numbers? Well 10m watched his fight with Marin in the UK alone.

I already admitted that Bruno is more beloved in the UK but that's a different argument than fame. Source? I can't find anything on his Marin fight viewership. Even if he did somehow do it (I doubt it), how many big stadiums did he sell out? How many PPVs did he sell? Joshua has sold out Wembley 3 or 4 times now. On average over 1 million Brits actually pay to watch him fight regardless of his opponent. Like Jonny said, who lives in Britain, Joshua has more boxing fans over there.

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

I already admitted that Bruno is more beloved in the UK but that's a different argument than fame. Source? I can't find anything on his Marin fight viewership. Even if he did somehow do it (I doubt it), how many big stadiums did he sell out? How many PPVs did he sell? Joshua has sold out Wembley 3 or 4 times now. On average over 1 million Brits actually pay to watch him fight regardless of his opponent. Like Jonny said, who lives in Britain, Joshua has more boxing fans over there.

But that’s not my point and I believe not the point of the thread. Of course amongst boxing fans he is held in higher regard because he was more successful. Joe calzagi (sic) is held in higher regard but neither are as well know as Bruno was in his day. I’m not stating AJ is unknown but there is no question Bruno was more beloved and a far bigger ‘name’ to the public. You ask how many people bought his PPVs ignoring the fact that the very first UK PPV (only available to 6m people) was frank Bruno’s last fight!!! The Marin fight was free and available to 50m. Close to 15m watched the Benn/McClellan fight two weeks later IIRC. Boxing then reached far more homes and as a result a lot of boxers were far more well known. Again my point isn’t that AJ is unknown just that Bruno was known more.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

But that’s not my point and I believe not the point of the thread. Of course amongst boxing fans he is held in higher regard because he was more successful. Joe calzagi (sic) is held in higher regard but neither are as well know as Bruno was in his day. I’m not stating AJ is unknown but there is no question Bruno was more beloved and a far bigger ‘name’ to the public. You ask how many people bought his PPVs ignoring the fact that the very first UK PPV (only available to 6m people) was frank Bruno’s last fight!!!

It isn't the point of the thread but that's what we're discussing at the moment. I didn't just ask about PPVs as I also mentioned attendance numbers & gate revenue. The latter both completely apply to Bruno. They're not one-offs. If I recall correctly Bruno's largest attendance number in one of his fights was only like 40-50k. Joshua's doubled that and on several occasions.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Bruno was never an international superstar. Nowhere near it. Joshua is. If basically the whole world knows who you are then you can bet that they know you in your own country even more so. It's just common sense.

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

It isn't the point of the thread but that's what we're discussing at the moment. I didn't just ask about PPVs as I also mentioned attendance numbers & gate revenue. The latter both completely apply to Bruno. They're not one-offs. If I recall correctly Bruno's largest attendance number in one of his fights was only like 40-50k. Joshua's doubled that and on several occasions.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Bruno was never an international superstar. Nowhere near it. Joshua is. If basically the whole world knows who you are then you can bet that they know you in your own country even more so. It's just common sense.

Well you are wrong on the first part as his fight with Oliver McCall was at Wembley and was a sell out (I think the capacity was 70,000 at the old Wembley?)

You will hear no argument from me with regard to him being internationally more recognised. Only a fool would attempt to disagree with that. Rightfully so too given his success. I would say AJ is more recognised domestically too with boxing fans and indeed sports fans in general.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Well you are wrong on the first part as his fight with Oliver McCall was at Wembley and was a sell out (I think the capacity was 70,000 at the old Wembley?)

You will hear no argument from me with regard to him being internationally more recognised. Only a fool would attempt to disagree with that. Rightfully so too given his success. I would say AJ is more recognised domestically too with boxing fans and indeed sports fans in general.

Incorrect. The McCall fight was at Wembley but the crowd was only 23k people in attendance.

“There was a crowd of 23,000 at Wembley Stadium.”
Oliver McCall vs. Frank Bruno

Here's another reliable source (ESPN) reporting the same number along with his biggest crowd in his career which was 40k as I said previously.

“His biggest crowd came against WBA champion Tim Witherspoon at Wembley Stadium on July 19, 1986. Hopes were high that Bruno would become Britain's first world heavyweight champion since Bob Fitzsimmons (1897-1899) but a 40,000 crowd was left disappointed as the Londoner succumbed to a 11th round defeat.”

From Rumble in the Jungle to Cardiff, the biggest attendances in boxing history | ESPN

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

Incorrect. The McCall fight was at Wembley but the crowd was only 23k people in attendance.

“There was a crowd of 23,000 at Wembley Stadium.”
Oliver McCall vs. Frank Bruno

Here's another reliable source (ESPN) reporting the same number along with his biggest crowd in his career which was 40k as I said previously.

“His biggest crowd came against WBA champion Tim Witherspoon at Wembley Stadium on July 19, 1986. Hopes were high that Bruno would become Britain's first world heavyweight champion since Bob Fitzsimmons (1897-1899) but a 40,000 crowd was left disappointed as the Londoner succumbed to a 11th round defeat.”

From Rumble in the Jungle to Cardiff, the biggest attendances in boxing history | ESPN

I stand corrected on that