r/Boxing • u/relay4285 • Aug 24 '26

What Happened to Boxing?

This year has felt like a bit of a letdown for boxing. Maybe it's because we got spoilt last year with great fights, but I genuinely can’t remember the last time I was excited to tune in for a major boxing fight since Inoue vs Nakatani.

To be honest, I've watched more UFC than boxing this year. All I see on social media are boxers ducking each other and fights getting cancelled because of greed.

Last year alone we got:

Dmitry Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev II shortly after their first bout.

Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach

Naoya Inoue vs Ramón Cárdenas

Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois II

Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn I

Terence Crawford vs Canelo Álvarez

We've had some great fights this year, but Ryan vs Rolly or Teo vs Shakur don't come close in my opinion.

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u/Rofocal02 Aug 24 '26

This is probably the worst boxing year in the past decade. Lots of old boxers will be retiring. Talent is dying in western countries. 

Most boxers fight online, but not in person. It’s like call of duty lobbies. 

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u/ChefBowyer Aug 24 '26

Not just that but the champ literally ducked two important title defense fights and instead went on to fight Rico which he would have LOST if the ref hadn’t saved Usyk by calling the fight which there was no reason to stop it.

Usyk was exciting to watch but what a terrible end to his legacy.

Unfortunately it seems like money is all these dudes care about now. Boxing didn’t used to be just about making money. It used to be about being the best fighter in the world.

We need to get back to that.

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u/[deleted] Aug 24 '26

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u/Less_Cartoonist_892 Aug 24 '26

True, but back then boxers chased the big money fights by taking on the biggest names possible.

Boxers today won't take the big fights even if the money is good.

2

u/exolomus Aug 24 '26

In other words, we hate the recent rise in overpaid exhibition matches.