This Thursday, Americans will gorge themselves on turkey and stuffing, argue with their relatives, and fall asleep watching football as they celebrate Thanksgiving. Not all of us at BoxingScene will be partaking in turkey, some of us will be avoiding family, and a few of us may even be watching the other football — the one that involves feet — but that hasn’t stopped a few of us sharing what we’re thankful for: specifically, what we’re thankful for in the world of boxing.
It can often be a challenge to find reasons to be thankful for boxing, what with fighters not fighting, A-sides constantly being set up to win, a parade of pay-per-views, dubious decisions, dalliances with gangsters and dictatorial regimes and so much more. But there’s also plenty to admire and be thankful for, and what better time to recall that than this time of year? So here is a selection of our favorite things about boxing in 2024.
Kieran Mulvaney: Boxing doesn’t give us a lot of reasons to be thankful, but whenever I am feeling especially down about the state of the sport and the business surrounding it, I think of the fighters themselves, the only truly indispensable characters in this bizarre play. And as I write this, 12 days or so removed from the events in Arlington, Texas, I am especially thankful for Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano.
In 2022, they put on a Fight-of-the-Year and Event-of-the-Year performance at Madison Square Garden; on November 15 they may have actually outdone themselves. Whether any commission other than Texas would have allowed Serrano to continue with that hideous gash over her right eye is a legitimate question, as is whether that injury will hinder her down the stretch of her career. And watching the fight live from ringside (or from the media section at the stadium, which was in the end zone and thus some distance from the ring), I thought Serrano won — as, watching on TV, I thought she did two years ago. But the fight was close, full of offensive skill and defensive flaws, and with astonishing effort by both boxers. Fifty million people saw it on Netflix, and, to spice things up a bit, after 20 rounds together it seems like Serrano and Taylor are starting to develop a dislike for each other.
On a night when a hugely underwhelming main event spawned a thousand crazy conspiracy theories, Serrano and Taylor showed an enormous global audience what boxing is really all about.
Owen Lewis: I’m grateful for the heavyweights, even if it took some time for the desired landscape to knit itself together. The undisputed clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury was delayed so many times that it seemed fated to underwhelm or not happen altogether. But we got the best imaginable version of the fight, as both fighters adjusted around each other’s strengths, and everyone walked away happy. (Maybe not Fury.) Usyk elevated himself to an all-time-great, while Fury reaffirmed his remarkable gifts even in defeat. That fight would have been worth waiting another 18 months for.
But now we get to see this again in December, with a potential trilogy if Fury wins! I’m drawing Ali-Frazier parallels in my head, strictly because of the nature of the fights. In each series, the smaller man endured significant punishment to land the more hurtful blows and win a monumental decision in the first fight. If the pattern holds, Fury will win the rematch. Anything could happen from there. Then there’s Daniel Dubois becoming an instant star by eviscerating the previously prominent British heavyweight in AJ; Joseph Parker’s underrated resurgence; fun side characters like Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole. The heavyweight division could waste away from here and I almost wouldn’t mind because 2024 was an embarrassment of riches.
Declan Warrington: I’m thankful that Jake Paul-Mike Tyson is firmly in the past and, simultaneously, was a disaster and a fight (at least in name) in which neither participant was hurt.
Eric Raskin: Here are three things I’m finding myself thankful for as the holiday season approaches, on three different levels.
On a professional level, I’m thankful for BoxRec and YouTube, which, as I wrote about back in June, are so essential to my ability to perform as a boxing writer that I struggle to fathom how I ever used to do any of this without them.
On a personal level, I’m thankful for the Klitschko brothers, and all that they are and that they represent as humans. You may infer, if you like, that I’m not so thankful for certain squishy-brained people who spout nonsense that requires a direct response from the Klitschko brothers. But that’s entirely up to you to infer that. I’m focusing on the things I am thankful for.
And on an emotional level, I’m thankful that Mike Tyson didn’t get hurt — at least not in any way we could immediately perceive — against Jake Paul two weeks ago. Their fight was awful. Truly, truly (predictably) awful. But the worst-case scenario, for everyone who cares about this sport, was avoided.
David Greisman: As a writer and a fan, I’m thankful that boxing continues to be a mix of amazing and absurd.
This year alone we’ve had undisputed championship fights featuring some of the best men and women in the sport. We’ve had boxers announce themselves on the world stage with emphasis, including Bakhram Murtazaliev demolishing Tim Tszyu, Oscar Collazo taking out Knockout CP Freshmart, and Gabriela Fundora stopping Gabriela Alaniz in one of those undisputed championship fights. And we’ve seen talent such as Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Junto Nakatani continue to ascend and build larger followings.
That’s not to say boxing isn’t without aggravation. We cover plenty of that, too, be it the fights that aren’t made or the fights that shouldn’t be made. Which leads to the one other thing I’m thankful for: being able to cover this sport for 20 years now, and being on the website where I got my start way back in 2004, alongside this great team of writers.
I will never take this opportunity for granted. Thank you for continuing to read my work and for supporting all of us here at BoxingScene.
Lucas Ketelle: For all its flaws, boxing gave me something I never expected. It gave me purpose. It gave me a sense of belonging when I had no idea where I fit in. I found friends, a community, a social group of people who got it — who understood what it meant to be an outsider, to fight for something that doesn’t always make sense to the rest of the world. Boxing became my identity. It became my life in ways I didn’t plan for, but I’m grateful for it. It changed me. Maybe not always for the better, but it shaped me, and that matters.
I could focus on all the subtle things I hate in sport — the bad decisions, the perceived corruption at times, the way fighters are built up just to eventually fall. But I won’t. I’m thankful that I’ve been able to pour myself into something I care about. I’m thankful for the incredible people I’ve met along the way. I’m thankful for the journey, even when it’s rocky, because this sport has given me a life that feels real, feels earned. So, here’s to boxing. The sport that made me feel like I finally belonged, when not much else did before.
I am grateful for boxing as a whole for existing.
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