Our contributors’ unpopular boxing takes from 2024

The BoxingScene writers have thought long and hard to bring you their takeout from 2024 that may not be shared by all…

What is your unpopular take of 2024?

Kieran Mulvaney: Boxing is going to deeply regret prostituting itself to Turki Alalshikh. It’s bad enough that the sport has managed to justify its involvement with a man Jamal Khashoggi identified before his murder as one of the Saudi regime’s chief thugs. But the sheer concentration of power in the hands of any one entity, murderous or otherwise, will prove a spectacularly short-sighted piece of money-grubbing even by the standards of a spectacularly short-sighted and money-grubbing business.

Lucas Ketelle: Is consolidating boxing good for the sport? We get the fights we want, but will fighters who fall out of favor, or simply don’t get along with powerbrokers, have no other option than to fight regionally? It seems boxing is closer than ever to having a UFC model with one person in control. Only time will tell if if that is good or bad

Owen Lewis: That portions of the boxing world came down harder on Devin Haney than Ryan Garcia after Garcia’s failed drugs test and truly loathsome behavior at times this year is symptomatic of a diseased sport beyond rehabilitation.

Matt Christie: The sport is still not doing nearly enough to help its fallen heroes. Ringside Charitable Trust, a registered charity with the sole aim of helping ex-boxers in need, has been struggling for attention for more than five years. With all of this money being thrown at boxing, and certain powerbrokers enjoying eye-watering profits, why is Ringside Charitable Trust not seeing a single cent of it? It is only a matter of time before the outside world notices the lack of care and starts asking some damning questions.

Declan Warrington: That Ryan Garcia testing positive for ostarine masked Bill Haney’s damaging complacency around Devin Haney-Garcia. Quite rightly, Garcia has been punished, but just because he shouldn’t have been in the ring doesn’t mean Bill Haney, Devin’s father, trainer and manager, didn’t make mistake after mistake. Devin Haney had perhaps the best 2023 of any fighter, when he defeated Vasiliy Lomachenko – deservedly – and Regis Prograis. Matching him with Garcia was a cynical move designed to capitalise on Garcia’s profile at a time when Garcia was clearly struggling with his mental health. The Haneys then spent fight week attempting to bully Garcia, which given those struggles was in bad taste, and were so overconfident that they not only agreed to fight an overweight opponent, but appeared to attempt to bully him in the ring, too. Devin Haney, typically, is sound defensively, but he seemed amateurishly underprepared for Garcia’s left hand; it also defied logic that he didn’t fight more on the back foot. He may well have lost a fight that later became a no contest, but he didn’t need to lose at all – and his undefeated record remaining intact doesn’t mean his psyche is.

Jason Langendorf: America is no longer the center of the boxing universe – and that assumes it ever was. Terence Crawford, Gervonta Davis, Jesse Rodriguez and Jaron Ennis are terrific fighters, but they are part of a small (and shrinking) contingent of U.S. boxers at the top of the sport. Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles remain draws for the biggest fights, but the heartbeat of the sport lies in cities such as Tijuana, Manchester and Tokyo, and regions such as Kazakhstan, Quebec and Puerto Rico. Someone circulate the memo to Tim Bradley.

Lance Pugmire: A critical comment doesn’t mean someone hates you, or has it out for you. Many people in this sport – from promoters to fighters to managers to publicity people – are far too sensitive and huge grudge holders. While it’s our job as reporters to speak our truth, that doesn’t mean we don’t wish you success in your very next endeavor. If there’s a mistake, a slip, a loss, God forbid, we’re supposed to report on it and our readers/viewers expect nothing less. Too many in this business think that the neighborhood YouTuber or the reporter who will never speak ill of a Saudi powerbroker or favorite promotion are the way things work in this business. Wrong. These people would have been laughed out of the industry 20 years ago. We’re not here to kiss ass. We’re here to do our job, so please increase the professionalism.

Tris Dixon: Aside from the heavyweights and Beterbiev-Bivol (both terrific), the best have not been fighting the best as we so often hear. However, show me Tank-Shakur, Canelo-Benavidez, Crawford-Ennis and I’ll subscribe to the same thoughts.

Eric Raskin: Apparently, that Ford-Kholmatov was the Fight of the Year. Also, that a potential eventual Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney rematch isn’t going to sell half as well on pay-per-view as people think. Controversy sells, but not when you’re as grossed out by a person as countless fans are now by Garcia.

Elliot Worsell: Failed drug tests remain an inconvenience for pretty much everybody in the sport and still it is difficult to watch great accomplishments and not wonder whether the winner just got away with it that time. Sadly, this makes the experience of watching a big fight not unlike that of celebrating a goal in a football/soccer game and waiting for VAR to check it and potentially spoil the fun.