Josh Swain had had enough. The Arizonian civil engineering student was tired of finding his name taken when trying to create social media accounts. Even more infuriating was the elusiveness of such doppelgängers. “I have never met another Josh Swain,” said Josh Swain. Thus, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Last year, the gauntlet was thrown down. Josh Swain created a group text with eight other Josh Swains, the first messages of which were, “You’re probably wondering why I’ve gathered you all here today. Precisely, 4/24/2021, 12:00 PM, meet at these coordinates, we fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck.”
Of course, Josh Swain meant no actual harm by the challenge. It was just a joke, fueled mostly by “pandemic boredom.” Then, after Swain tweeted a screenshot of the group text, the “Josh Fight” went viral, and the post was liked and shared more than 85,000 times. As it began to garner more and more fame, Swain thought to put the attention to good use. He created a fundraiser page to “Support Legal Fees to Help Josh Swains Change Their Names*,” but the money was really going to the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center Foundation, which has facilities near the battleground. This aspect was made clear in the fundraiser’s description.
As the date of the battle approached, Swain was starting to think another Josh Swain might actually appear. In the end, he was completely unprepared for the turnout he got.
Around a thousand people showed up at the designated location on April 24. 50 of these people were Joshes, but only one of whom was another Josh Swain. After a grueling battle of rock-paper-scissors, the Josh Swain who organized the event earned himself the title of True Josh Swain, and the crowd of assembled Joshes and spectators went wild.
After that, the true fight began: an all-Josh melee, where all fifty Joshes duked it out good-naturedly with pool noodles to prove themselves the king Josh. In the end, the True Josh Swain announced that Josh Vinson Jr. was the true king. Vinson, AKA, “Little Josh,” is a four-year-old who had once suffered a series of seizures that had been treated at the very hospital the fight was raising money for. Little Josh was crowned with a Burger King crown and hoisted into the air to be seen by all the Joshes, who cheered wildly for their new leader.
In the end, the fight raised $11,000 dollars for the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center Foundation. After the fact, the True Josh Swain has said on Twitter that the story of the Josh Fight, its victor, and the money it raised “is making me [him] sob.” And, with a story as touching as this, during an era dominated by bad news, it’s no surprise.
