What do you want to see less of in 2025?

We start every year with hope that things will be different, perhaps better, than they were the previous year. and in boxing our approach is no different. In boxing, there is always room for improvement.

Lucas Ketelle: I want to see fewer rematches. It is great to have a rematch clause because bad decisions can happen, but honestly, if the best contenders faced the best champions, with logical paths to the top of the division, we wouldn’t need so many rematch clauses. 

So, I hope we see fewer rematches. 

Owen Lewis: Boxing bending the knee to Turki Alalshikh and the deep Saudi Arabian purses behind him. Even if it comes at the cost of some good matchups, the sport needs to begin extricating itself from Alalshikh’s influence before, potentially, he withdraws his support. Media members flocking to his payroll is disappointing; media members praising him without even being on his payroll is pathetic. Concerned about geopolitics or not, we could all do with Alalshikh’s mug getting less screen time on our boxing broadcasts.

Declan Warrington: If bad decisions and performance-enhancing drugs are answers that can be taken for granted, less of Saudi Arabia’s growing influence and shameless references to “His Excellency”. It’s an underwhelming place for a fight to be staged, and, ultimately, it isn’t helping the sport nearly as much as they and their friends would have you believe. 

Lance Pugmire: Fights in Saudi Arabia. Staging a “Latino Night” there when it belonged in Los Angeles, Phoenix or San Antonio was my personal breaking point, but even placing the Usyk-Fury fights in the U.K. would’ve done more for expanding the sport than this movement. Are Americans and Brits flocking to Saudi for these fights? No. Do non-shills trust this being a long-term solution to help grow the sport? Of course not.

Bernard Neequaye: Officiating has been a problem in most cases this year and I think going forward, it must be improved to offer every fighter a fair playing ground in bouts. That is something that I want to improve going forward.

Eric Raskin: Obvious answer: Turki Alalshikh making himself the center of the attention. (You’re good at spending your government’s money. Congrats, bruh.) Slightly less obvious answer: Jake Paul boxing. He deserves full credit for coming as far as he has as quickly as he has, but I am fresh out of interest in his fights against low-level pro boxers, MMA fighters, celebrities, and retirees.

Matt Christie: Photos on social media of a boxer with half of their face caved in, their ear ripped in half, or an arm hanging off, alongside the words: ‘You don‘t play boxing.’

Elliot Worsell: Boxing opening its legs to just about everyone on account of its greed and desperation: internet celebrities, influencers, mixed martial artists, brain-damaged legends, sugar daddies, children with cameras. Have a bit more self-respect, you old slut.

Tris Dixon: Less of a platform given to those who have failed tests for PEDs. The fact that there is now no cancel culture means that the ‘stock’ of a fighter tends to rise when they return, largely because their name has been kept alive in their ‘absence’. We’ve all been guilty of it, but I think there should be far harsher measures in place, still, for those who have failed tests.