Josh Swain Fight

About

The Josh Swain Fight, Josh Fight, or Josh vs Josh vs Josh, refers to a screenshot of a Facebook group message from April 2020 consisting of a number of people named "Josh Swain" in which the original Josh gives the other members of the group specific coordinates and tells them to meet on April 24th, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. for a battle royale to decide who keeps the name, ultimately giving them a year to prepare. The screenshot inspired a number of image macros and photoshops referencing it throughout 2020 and 2021, particularly on Reddit and Facebook, increasing as the 24th of April neared. The popularity of the meme lead to the original Josh Swain holding a charity event at Air Park Green in Nebraska for the Josh Fight.

Origin

On April 24th, 2020, Twitter^[17] user @joshswainaz, real name Josh Swain, posted "there can be only one" with two screenshots; one showing a Facebook DM group full of people named Josh Swain, and another of a string of messages. The creator of the group says, "You're probably wondering why I've gathered you all here today," to which one Josh correctly guesses it's because they all share the same name. A man named "Josh Swain" leaves the group, then the creator tells the others to meet at the GPS coordinates 40.8223286, -96.7982002 in a year (April 24th, 2021, at noon) for a fight, with all the losers having to change their names (shown below). The post gained over 21,000 retweets and 61,000 likes in a year.

On April 26th, Facebook^[1] page Fun Things With Depressed People posted the screenshot. On the same day, the screenshot was also shared to /r/GoodFakeTexts^[4] by u/JoffaCXD1, garnering over 2,200 upvotes in just under a year.

The GPS coordinates lead to a location outside the Lincoln airport in Nebraska that's since been registered as the "Josh Fight" when searched on gps-coordinates.net^[2] (shown below).

“Precisely, 4/24/2021, 12:00 PM, meet at these coordinates, (40.8223286, -96.7982002) we fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck.”

Spread

On April 27th, 2020, the Facebook^[3] page Abey saley posted the screenshots. On the same day, they were shared by Instagram^[11] page @pubity, garnering over 633,000 likes in roughly a year.

On that day, Redditor u/Nu1tr4 shared an image macro to /r/dankmemes^[5] featuring saley's Josh Swain screenshot and an added image from The Matrix depicting the fight between the Josh's, garnering over 41,500 upvotes in roughly a year (shown below). That day, Redditor u/nailmot0rcycle posted saley's screenshot to /r/me_irl,^[7] garnering over 59,000 upvotes in the same span of time.

Later that day, Redditor u/TheLogisticLogic posted a new image macro to /r/animemes,^[6] imagining the fight between the Josh's with a scene from Naruto, garnering over 8,400 upvotes in just under a year (shown below).

In 2021, memes referencing Josh Swain increased as users reminded each other of the upcoming date, especially on Reddit. On January 19th, 2021, the subreddit /r/JoshSwainBattle^[19] was created.

For example, on January 19th, 2021, the Facebook^[8] page Hey Admin, Sauce Please, posted an image macro consisting of the screenshot and text reading, "Just reminding all of you that we only have a couple more weeks to go until the fight," garnering over 26,000 reactions and 19,000 shares in three months (shown below, left). On January 20th, Redditor u/MajorMentos posted a "Trollface Incident" meme referencing the fight to /r/TrollFaceIncident,^[9] garnering over 700 upvotes in a comparable span of time (shown below, right).

On April 14th, Redditor u/TextDeletd shared the domain for joshvsjoshvsjosh.com^[12] in a comment on a post to /r/memes.^[13] The site currently consists of a countdown to the day of the Josh Fight. On April 19th, Redditor u/McBizcut posted a photoshop referencing the fight, garnering over 44,800 upvotes in 20 hours (shown below, left). On the same day, u/Human1223 created /r/JoshVsJoshVsJosh,^[14] a subreddit for the meme.

On April 20th, four days before the fight, Facebook^[10] page Ｓｈｉｔｐｏｓｔｉｎｇ ２００６ posted an image macro reminding users of the fight, garnering over 3,800 reactions and 4,400 shares in 21 hours (shown below, right).

Alleged New Location

On April 20th at 6:40 p.m., Twitter^[15] user @MemesCentraI posted, "The Josh Fight Has Been Moved" along with an image of a wooden shipping skid with a crudely written message reading, "No Josh Fight Here!!! Private property. Please Go To Bowling Lake Park for Josh vs Josh vs Josh. 40.8654791 -96.7842755. (May the best Josh win)" (shown below). The post gained over 240 likes and 30 retweets in a day.

On April 21st, The Tab^[16] reported on the post, offering evidence that it might be legitimate via a Google Maps screenshot of an orange pole at the location of the original Josh Fight that the skid seems to be resting against (shown below).

The new coordinates point to Bowling Lake Park in Lincoln, Nebraska (shown below).

Josh Swain's Official Statement

On the night of April 20th, 2021, Redditor u/Josh_Dot_Exe, the original Josh Swain, made a post to /r/JoshSwainBattle^[18] confirming various details of the event and providing proof of his identity (shown below, click to expand).

In the post, Josh confirms that the new location of the fight is at GPS coordinates 40.858689, -96.784136, leading to Air Park Green Area, not Bowling Lake Park as some said. Swain also confirmed that he would be there an hour early to "warn park go-ers" of the event, that he is the only Swain he knows of attending telling other Swains to bring a pool noodle to participate in the "fight," and mentioning that there would be a charity drive at the same time for Food Bank of Lincoln. The post gained over 7,000 upvotes in a day.

On April 21st, Redditor u/phoenyx32 posted another image of the shipping skid in the original field to /r/JoshSwainBattle^[20] with a new note clearing up the location of the fight, garnering over 860 upvotes in a day (shown below).

On April 23rd, Know Your Meme^[21] published an interview with Josh Swain about the event.

April 24th & Little Josh Crowned

Hundreds of people showed up to the Josh Fight on April 24th, including dozens of Josh's, who all proceeded to fight with pool noodles to determine the ultimate Josh. "Josh" trended on Twitter that day.

In the end, a five-year-old boy, quickly nicknamed "Little Josh," was declared 'King Josh,' and crowned with a cardboard Burger King crown in front of the cheering crowd of participants (video of Josh post-fight shown below).

The Josh Fight managed to raise over $14,000 in donations for the Children's Hospital & Medical Center Foundation.

On April 25th, Little Josh opened an Instagram^[23] account (run by his guardians) including a link in the bio for a GoFundMe^[24] page to donate to Little Josh's college fund. Most posts are fanart and images from the Josh Fight. A limited time merch site^[25] was also launched to raise funds, with $8 of each purchase going to the college fund (preview of items shown below).

Josh Cellars Wine Doubles Donation

On May 5th, 2021, California winemakers Josh Cellars^[22] announced that they would donate an additional $30,000 to the Children's Hospital & Medical Center Foundation, equalling a total of around $44,000 raised overall. They also made the announcement on their Instagram page, garnering over 2,500 likes in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References