By: Sean Crose
It’s almost taken as universal fact that boxing is in a bad place right now. Fighters dropping belts, leaving negotiations and asking for insane amounts of money are par for the course these days. Sure enough, the fight game has made the bold step of excluding its own fanbase. It would be fascinating in a sociological sense if it weren’t so all frustrating. Are things THAT bad, though? Looking over some of the sport’s more notable divisions I’ve had to conclude that yeah, it is. That doesn’t mean there’s no hope to be found. Let’s see if we can find it.
We’ll begin as always at the top, at the heavyweight division. Frankly, it’s a complete mess, with an aging king who may well be checking out and two of his victims deciding whether or not to face each other for untold millions before one or both are too past their primes to actually square off. Lot’s of bluster can currently be found at heavyweight, but that’s about it. Fortunately things are looking better a division below, down at cruiserweight. For there it appears David Benavidez and Jai Opetaia might throw down for divisional glory. This is one I’d personally love to see.
Sadly, the light heavyweight division is a vast desert of nothingness. Remember when light heavyweight was an exciting weight class? Me too. That may be what makes this so sad. Things are looking a bit stronger, however, down at super middleweight where Canelo Alvarez will continue his slow fadeout from the spotlight by facing Christian Mbilli in a bout that just may prove to be rather interesting. Unfortunately nothing of interest seems to be going on at middleweight. Cheers to the legendary Erislandy Lara, however, who continues to do this sport honor (I always thought he could have given Mayweather a run back in the day). Where have you gone, Marvin Hagler?
With that in mind, junior middleweight looks solid thanks to Sebastian Fundora keeping active. Here’s hoping Boots Ennis and Vergil Ortiz can meet in this web of boxing politics and inertia. Welterweight should be – as the kids call it – -fire. Sadly, it may not be in spite of the big names and potential huge matchups. Here’s hoping for Ryan Garcia – Teofimo Lopez in the next year. Junior welterweight looks to be in a similar boat as welterweight: Lots of talent, no guaranteed big fights.
The lightweight division is in no great shape ether, but at least in this case it’s understandable. Stevenson is so good, who can beat him at 135? Featherweight has names like Espinoza and Carington, so at least there’s some talent there. Lastly, there’s bantamweight, for which there are only two words – Naoya Inoue, a credit to bantamweight and all the other divisions he’s conquered.
One quick look at these divisions tells us all we need to know: that things are dark for the sport of boxing but there’s no reason for it to be. The masterminds behind the sport need to objectively look at what’s good for the sport before it becomes something unrecognizable. Boxing thrives when at least one genuine star is in the spotlight. People could have scoffed that boxing was dead a decade or so ago, but Mayweather and Pacquiao were still brining in millions in dollars and pay per view buys. But in order to be the next Mayweather or Pacquiao, someone has to face the big names like Floyd and Manny did. The clock is ticking. The more time that passes, the more fans lose interest. Boxing won’t die at this rate, but it’s no doubt the sick man of the sporting world. If changes aren’t made the sport will remain on the margins. It won’t stay there forever, though.
It will all just fade away from recognition.
