Here are 10 lessons (or things) that one boxing writer took away from the last year of boxing.
1. The United States matters less to boxing than it used to
With Riyadh, Saudi Arabia landing the biggest fights of the year (Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury I and II, as well as Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol), the U.S. of A just doesn’t matter as much as it used to in terms of making the big fights and making the big matchups.
The first Usyk-Fury fight for the undisputed crown at heavyweight and the Beterbiev-Bivol bout for the undisputed title at light heavyweight drew large crowds and PPV audiences. Venues like Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, once revered for classic fights like Brandon Rios-Mike Alvarado, held only one fight this year. That fight was in August with undefeated super middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco stopping Maciej Sulecki in six rounds.
Does this matter for how boxing is viewed, talked about, and perceived in the U.S.? Only time will tell.
One thing is for sure –– the top fighters are slowly getting phased out in pound-for-pound lists by foreign fighters who are more active. Terence Crawford, David Benavidez, Shakur Stevenson, and Gervonta Davis only fought once each this year and even Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez only fought twice.
2. Boxing has a middle class
With big promoters now focusing on bigger shows and developing top talent, we have seen the emergence of ProBox TV, OTX Boxing, Most Valuable Promotions, and Salita Promotions’ Big Time Boxing USA. These promotions are putting together strong cards that display title contenders in interesting bouts. In particular, ProBox TV saw junior middleweight Vladimir Hernandez revive his career with a knockout-of-the-year contender over Guido Schramm and a Fight of the Year contender with Raul Garcia. (Disclosure: ProBox TV owns BoxingScene.) Angelo Leo rebuilt himself on ProBox TV, then won a featherweight title. These platforms should only grow and become more notable in 2025.
3. The lower weight classes are meaningful
When Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez debuted on HBO Boxing, it was a big deal. One of the best fighters, who fought at a weight class that didn’t often get televised, got a chance to show his skills on a huge platform. In 2024, we saw unified strawweight titleholder Oscar Collazo featured on various cards, junior flyweight Kenshiro Teraji get national attention, Sunny Edwards-Galal Yafai headlined a card in Britain in the flyweight division and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, was not just be a headliner, but is also regarded as one of the best fighters in the world.
It seems that the lower-weight fighters have more exposure than ever.
4. The heavyweight era is coming to an end
When Usyk defended his heavyweight title, many people wondered what might come next. Usyk has proven he is the best of this era. He holds two wins over Anthony Joshua and two wins over Fury, and he stopped Daniel Dubois, who earlier this year stopped Joshua. While we can keep looking to the future, it might also be okay to say Usyk has proved that he is the best of his generation and anything else he decides to do is alright.
5. Good matchups don’t always lead to good fights
Usyk-Fury II and Beterbiev-Bivol were not amazing fights. Both fighters were competitive and the fights were interesting with huge historical implications. However, I doubt these tactical fights that lack intense action will draw a big audience. Getting all of these great match-ups this year also taught us that not every great matchup equals a great fight.
Keyshawn Davis should be a titleholder in 2025. Shakur Stevenson should become a marquee name. Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia are the biggest topics in boxing. When Floyd Mayweather Jnr retired, Terence Crawford quietly became the best fighter in the world. Now, the landscape is changing again, with fighters like Gervonta Davis and David Benavidez edging closer to the top of pound-for-pound lists.
Guys like Beterbiev, Crawford, Usyk, Fury, and even Canelo are closer to being done than most think. 2025 might be the year where we see a changing of the guard in the sport’s biggest names.
7. Boxing is big in Japan
Naoya Inoue didn’t come out of nowhere — he had been a star for a decade. Now more than ever, boxing is flourishing in Japan. The country boasts nine male titleholders and is holding mega-cards bi-annually. With pound-for-pound rising star Junto Nakatani only getting better, Japan’s boxing presence won’t go away once Inoue retires. Japanese boxers are here to stay.
8. Influencer/crossover boxing will one day compete against world championship boxing
The writing is on the wall. At some point, major fighters in boxing will be up against boxers emerging on social media. Social media celebrities are fighting against each other. How will this unfold? Will it matter? Only time will tell.
9. Is boxing personality-based or achievement-based?
Heading into the new year we need to make a distinction: What merits a main event fighter? If it is simply being a draw, and selling tickets, could we see an era of main event fighters who are not competing for titles? Will the title fights become co-mains, sideshows to the star-studded main events? With the influx of influencer boxing, this is something to monitor.
10. Who will show boxing in 2025?
The story of 2024 from a distribution standpoint is that only one traditional boxing platform exists in the US: ESPN. In 2023, Showtime left the sport as a whole. Now, the sport is mostly on streaming networks like DAZN. What does the distribution of boxing look like moving forward? How involved will Premier Boxing Champions be with Amazon Prime? Will we see more niche networks catering to boxing? How people watch the sport in 2025 might help us answer the ever-present question of where boxing fits into mainstream culture.
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