Comment: Tyson Fury defeated Deontay Wilder in the social media fight Published on: 27 February 2020 Writing for The Conversation, Wasim Ahmed and Alex Fenton discuss the battle of the boxers' personal brands that took place on social media. , and , Tyson Fury dramatically became the World Boxing Council鈥檚 heavyweight champion of their fight on February 22 in Las Vegas. With US$25 million in guaranteed earnings, plus percentages of pay-per-view profits for each fighter, it was an incredibly lucrative match for everyone involved. Fury was not only victorious in the ring, he also won the support of fans across the globe and clearly came top in the battle of the brands that took place on social media. We looked at the aftermath of the fight on Twitter to compare how each fighter鈥檚 personal brand performed around the world. Fury has twice as many Twitter followers (1.4 million) as Wilder. Instagram is a little closer, with Fury on 3.4 million and Wilder on 2.8 million followers. Twitter followings produced using Social Elephants. Ahmed and Fenton, People tend to to follow winning athletes because it allows them to bask in their reflected glory. This is a psychological term that refers to our desire to associate ourselves with success or prestige. So when athletes switch teams, you can see their followers switch with them on social media. When footballer Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Real Madrid to Juventus, for example, Juventus gained 6.2 million followers 鈥� it鈥檚 been . We used a social network analysis tool to examine the discussions on Twitter directly after the Fury-Wilder fight took place. Our analysis was based on the hashtag #FuryWilder2 (the match was a long-awaited rematch following a draw between the two fighters in 2018) and can be seen in full . Much of the discussion focused on Tyson鈥檚 celebrations in the ring directly after the fight, where he sang a two-minute rendition of the song American Pie. As the BBC tweet says: 鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 be Tyson Fury if there wasn鈥檛 a song鈥�. This references how a big part of Fury鈥檚 popularity is linked to his ability to entertain crowds 鈥� often through singing. Thousands of Twitter users went on to engage with this tweet. Mapping Twitter: regular users and influencers flock around Tyson Fury. Ahmed and Fenton, The cluster of Twitter users above shows how brand Fury won over the masses online, as well as getting the Las Vegas crowd to sing along with him in real life. Wilder鈥檚 account, meanwhile, received fewer mentions and overall was less influential in the network. Many celebrities and influencers, including boxing legends, took to Twitter to congratulate Fury after the fight, further strengthening brand Fury. Brand building A look at the hashtags around Fury also highlights the number of communities that flocked to his brand. We analysed the hashtags that were connected to the fight鈥檚 #FuryWilder2 hashtag. #FuryWilder2 hashtag network created using Socioviz. Ahmed and Fenton, The most used hashtags were all linked to Fury鈥檚 self-styled 鈥淕ypsy King鈥� moniker. The #TeamFury hashtag was also very popular. We can also see links to different sports (#football and #basketball), locations (#Preston), causes (#homelessness) and even religion (#jesusgeng) 鈥� all of which jumped on the brand Fury bandwagon in the aftermath of the fight to gain exposure. Athletes in all sports increasingly need to be visible across social media in order . Gaining followers helps to secure big sponsorship contracts and leads to a more dedicated fanbase who will travel to attend fights and buy merchandise. This is because social media allows spectators to feel closer to the action, talk to other fans and feel closer to their heroes. Read more: But for every Tyson Fury social media success story there are stars who have fallen foul of engaging with fans on social media . The nature of these platforms is that information travels at lightning speed and stars can go viral without being able to control the narrative. As new platforms emerge, such as , and new features are added to existing ones, we can expect even greater engagement from fans 鈥� and many more controversies, too. , Lecturer in Digital Business, and , Lecturer in Digital Business, This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the . Share: Latest News 缅北禁地 recognised with geography award 缅北禁地 has been awarded the Highly Commended Geographical Association Publishers Award for its collaboration with Time for Geography, the UK鈥檚 open-access, dedicated video platform. published on: 16 April 2026 缅北禁地 historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners鈥� lock-out of 1926, historians at 缅北禁地 are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can鈥檛 adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Facts and figures
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