Let us throw this out in the open. Boxing right now could be better.
The promotion of Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney made me realize how boring these two fighters are. It made me realize how boring these boxers promote themselves, making themselves look good. In reality, however, all of them lack competition. One reason is that they all lack the drive because the purpose of losing does not enter their mind.
I get it; you want to become a dominant fighter, but how can you consider yourself competitive when you are afraid to take risks? Take on the best fights for your career and for the sport of boxing.
Before his prime, Canelo fought Floyd Mayweather and lost, but I give props for his stepping up.
Floyd has won four fights in his career. Forty wins are impressive, but if you want to be honest, let us remember that he ducked numerous rematches and fights. Some may say that regardless of the outcome of his career, he is the greatest, but he is why these fighters’ mindsets are changing. Fighters are so focused on records rather than fights. That is like being an established boxer, and I choose a fight against someone with less experience than me rather than a fighter up par with my skills. It ruins the interest others have in the sport. Records also got in fans’ heads, calling a fighter bad after losing their “0”. However, they needed to remember the dominance they had.
Ryan Garcia is a great example. The fighter was undefeated until he lost to Gervonta Davis, at which point he became the world’s worst boxer. Losing fights is part of the art of boxing, but fans soon forget this and criticize fighters. Regardless of the outcome, combatants do so to leave a legacy. Boxers’ careers end with brain damage or, in some instances, death. Sometimes, both are avoided to be safe. Regardless, fans must present fighters with flowers.
The biggest problem I do not enjoy is influencers tuning into boxing. That was the icing on the cake. Sure, it has its positives because it produces more money for actual fighters to give their acknowledgment to the influencers who want to take boxing seriously. However, let us be completely honest here. Boxers did boxing because they loved it. Influencers are doing it for money and to make themselves look good. 2018-2021 was the year YouTube/TikTok boxing was at an all-time high.
The biggest creators on both platforms decided to take an interest in boxing. Each event they had with these creators was honestly a slugfest. The number of missed punches and lack of fundamentals were painful to watch. It is a slap to the face of actual boxers.
The sad part is that this has been bringing boxers back from retirement and getting fights again. I do not care about money, so why is Mike Tyson fighting Jake Paul? Why is Floyd Mayweather fighting Logan Paul? Why is Evander Holyfield fighting Viktor Belfort at 60 years old? You would not believe moments like these a couple of years back. Because that is what boxing has come to. A sport that, down the line, has been ruined. UFC fighters or any mixed martial arts decide to take upon the sport for whatever reason, and when getting into the sport, they are bad at it.
Francis Ngannou had so much ego that he decided to leave the UFC as a champion for increased pay.
That is understandable, but it would be better to have such a high edge and get two fights with boxing’s current heavyweight fighters, Fury and Johnson, who are at their peak. What happened? He lost both fights.
I overall missed when boxing was entertaining. When it was interesting, now, it is a cash grab for those who want a quick paycheck, win or lose. I do not want to see fighters who are a shell of their former self getting hurt. What is the point of that? It shows you do not want to abandon your initial fighting career.
What else do you have to prove? YouTube and Tiktok should only box if they want to take it seriously. I enjoy combat sports as a whole, but I enjoy it less and less when it comes to boxing. I stand by this to this day: UFC is more competitive than boxing. I remember Dan Hooker was a rising fighter and took a risk in fighting Dustin Poirer. Both produced the best fights in the pandemic.
Hooker lost, but what did he learn respect. This showed me that these fighters do not care about records; they care about their legacy. Boxers are afraid that it is wild. People say it became entertainment, but it honestly turned into a circus.
