Thread: Groves Vs DeGale,when was the last time a British title fight got so much attention??

This fight caught the public imagination to the point it got more attention than the world title fight which was onn the same bill.I watched it in a south wales pub and it was the fight that every body wanted to watch.

The public were talking about it and it was in the newspapers a lot as well.

I could be wrong because I was only young at the time but was Lennox Lewis-Gary Mason the last British title fight that got so much attention.

Any other big British title fights anybody can remember??

Unfortunately Haye vs Audley got more public attention and probably made more money.

Originally Posted by 0james0

Unfortunately Haye vs Audley got more public attention and probably made more money.

Yes but that was for the wba world title for what it was worth.

Groves/DeGale was for the British/Commonwealth title.

I was very impressed with the amount of attention the fight got, everyone was talking about it. It's probably what it used to be like years ago when the British champs were known by the general public.

Ah, I see what you said now. British title fight.

In that case no, I can't remember a fight being as big. You know a fight is big when it gets mentions in mainstream news, not just the sports channels.

It was pretty big for a British title fight, but thats only because De Gale is an Olympic Gold Medallist.

Audley against Danny Williams was much bigger as it was on the BBC but I cant remember if that was British or Commonwealth. Same thing though really.

Some of Amirs fights on BBC would have had broader appeal too, seeing as they were on BBC.

De Gale became a household name when he won the Olympics, but fighting on Sky means only a very section of the public care about him anymore.

With guys like Audley and Amir, they had mainstream tv exposure for a while and thus even mums and grans were watching.

Easily Benn v Eubank

Think half the nation tuned in.

Originally Posted by smashup

Easily Benn v Eubank

Think half the nation tuned in.

did they fight for the british title?

Audley-Williams was for the Commonwealth title and on ITV. However, it was certainly watched by more people than DeGale-Groves would have been - 8 million. The same amount watched Lewis-Mason on the BBC.

Khan regularly got around 5 million for his ITV fights and Audley started out with similar numbers when on the BBC. Froch-Pascal did 3 million on ITV.

Considering Groves-DeGale sold 17,000 tickets and was covered by all mainstream press/news, it's safe to bet it would have done 5 million+ on terrestrial.

Just to add - Benn-Eubank did something like 30 million over their two fights. Amazing.

Originally Posted by smashup

Easily Benn v Eubank

Think half the nation tuned in.

That was for the wbo middle weight title not the british title.