Boxing Enters 2025 On Wobbly Legs
There is a running debate about whether boxing is currently in good stead. All signs point to the sport being on the decline. As a result, 2025 is crucial if the sport wants to have any significance and long-term stability.
Boxing fans were abuzz with the back-and-forth exchange between multi-divisional champions Terence “Bud” Crawford and Gervonta “Tank” Davis. The two got into a heated argument on social media. In what’s now a deleted post, Bud challenged Davis to shut up and step up the level of competition. Crawford’s challenge speaks to a prevailing issue: the top fighters’ unwillingness to test themselves against the best in and around their division. It’s something that’s hurting the sport at large.
A SORRY STATE OF AFFAIRS
Davis is a glaring example of someone who is keeping things safe. A champion since 2017 and a world champion at both 130 and 135, the 30-year-old has yet to engage in a unification fight in either division. The current WBA lightweight champion has fans clamoring for him to fight WBC 135-pound titleholder Shakur Stevenson. Instead, there’s been no signs that we will see them battle anytime soon. Davis is not alone in what has become a lack of pride in many of the current crop of world champions.
Over the last few years, unified super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has been feasting off fighting B and C-level competition. Reigning junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez spends more time talking about how great he is on social media than proving his worth in the ring. Even elite fighters like Naoya Inoue are not above criticism. The same fans who want to see Davis face Stevenson also want to see Inoue finally face his mandatory challenger, Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Turki Alashikh has made a serious imprint in the sport in the last few years. He claims to be on a mission to make the best fights possible for the fans and deserves credit for staging the two fights between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. Alakshikh’s efforts also resulted in the showdown between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed light heavyweight title in October 2024.
However, more needs to be done on his behalf. The same things can be said about powerhouse promoters Top Rank, Matchroom, Golden Boy, and PBC. It’s a sad indictment when a fight between former YouTube star Jake Paul and a middle-aged Mike Tyson captures the imagination of sports fans more than the Usyk – Fury I, which was for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
That’s why this year is imperative. Diehards are not going to put up with fighters getting by fighting substandard opponents. Outside of the Beterbiev – Bivol rematch on February 22, there’s no word of any other mega-matchups on the 2025 boxing calendar. That needs to change.
Boxing has fallen off the mainstream sports map, but it still has a lifeline. There needs to be a reconstruction and a change of mindset from the fighters and dealmakers. They have to come together for the betterment of everyone. The hardcore fans are still the base of this sport. If you lose them, the sport is in danger of becoming not just tertiary, but completely going into the abyss.
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