The business of boxing outside the ring in the United States remains as in flux as it has been for most of recent history.
Decades of stability by way of free network coverage gave way to decades of premium cable stability with ESPN and HBO. ESPN has been in and out of boxing since it launched with more time in than out. Times have changed.
HBO is long gone. Showtime has hit the showers. ESPN still has Top Rank, Amazon Prime will now be home to the PBC, and DAZN has Golden Boy and Matchroom. This is the way things will be in 2024. Who knows where everything is three or four years from now.
Fans may follow what happens outside the ring but it’s what happens inside that provides the real entertainment. In 2023, boxing was a winning endeavor. We might not have seen every fight on the wishlist, but boxing delivered more than it didn’t. There were unexpected gems like Artur Beterbiev-Anthony Yarde and Rafael Espinoza-Robeisy Ramirez; excellent star contests like Devin Haney-Vasyl Lomachenko, Teofimo Lopez-Josh Taylor, and David Benavidez-Caleb Plant; superfights in the form of Naoya Inoue-Stephen Fulton, Terence Crawford-Errol Spence, and Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia; and massive upsets like Joseph Parker-Deontay Wilder.
That’s a pretty damn good year.
Can 2024 keep the in-ring momentum going?
There are some positive signs.
One positive is the fight signed for February 17.
The two best heavyweights in the world will lock horns. All the belts will be on the line. History’s crown is up for grabs. The story of a generation will be told.
If Tyson Fury wins, the only big name of his era left is Anthony Joshua. He unseated Wladimir Klitschko to capture the lineal throne and, despite much outside turbulence and a backdated two-year suspension for PED use, has remained unbeaten in the ring.
Usyk cleaned out cruiserweight and defeated Joshua twice. A win over Fury would mark him the best big man of his era.
Both enter after rocky performances so this fight could be happening under stronger circumstances. Fury looked awful in climbing off the floor to grind out a win over Francis Ngannou, an MMA fighter making his boxing debut. It was embarrassing. He still won.
Usyk also won his last out, dominating almost every moment against Daniel Dubois.
Except for that one moment.
It was a boxing Zapruder film. Did Dubois land a little low or was it a clean body shot that left Usyk in a pained heap on the floor? The referee ruled a low blow and Usyk scored the knockout.
Imperfect circumstances doesn’t make this any less the right fight. Fury-Usyk is on its way. What can fans hope will join it to make this another thrilling year? Let’s look at some of the fights that should be realistic for the coming year.
At light heavyweight, the obvious fight is Dmitry Bivol against the winner of Beterbiev-Callum Smith. Bivol and Beterbiev have been titlists at their weight for half a decade without fighting. It’s beyond absurd at this point. If 2024 goes by without a clash of champions at 175 pounds, the division wastes another year.
Super middleweight has some good options but only one right answer: in 2024, we need to see Saul Alvarez-David Benavidez. It’s been the best possible fight at 168 pounds for a couple years but there was a solid argument that Benavidez could do more to earn it. Wins over Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade in 2023 cemented his place as the most deserving contender to the undisputed king.
Terence Crawford is the king at welterweight but his future plans may more directly impact junior middleweight. Assuming we don’t get something wild like Crawford-Alvarez, junior middleweight gives Crawford a chance to join Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao as the only four-division lineal champions in boxing history. Jermell Charlo might have failed chasing Alvarez for the super middleweight crown but he’s still the rightful king at 154 pounds. A perfect year for the weight class would see Charlo-Tim Tszyu with the winner against Crawford.
Skipping straight to Crawford-Charlo would be fine too.
Former lightweight champions Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez both won belts at junior welterweight in 2023. Lopez is now the lineal champion. Ryan Garcia and Haney are talking about each other which would mean a big money scrap. Lopez and titlist Subriel Matias have had some words in the media. Both of those fights would keep the fire stoked in a red hot weight class. Haney-Lopez would also be welcome as would mixing in contender Gary Antuanne Russell with any of them.
This all assumes Davis stays at lightweight. The best fight one could make there on paper is Davis-Shakur Stevenson but that might not be a destination in the immediate future. Davis versus Frank Martin would be solid matchmaking. Stevenson versus William Zepeda would too. Davis is one of the sport’s genuine rainmakers so a big event fight sometime in 2024 is likely. We just don’t know where it happens yet.
Below lightweight, one can hope to see some unification action at featherweight that sets the stage for a rise in weight from Naoya Inoue late in the year or into 2025. Inoue will keep chipping away at a cleanout of junior featherweight in the meantime now that he is its lone, clear king. Lower on the scale, the rise of Bam Rodriguez should continue and at least one of the aging Hardcore Four may be in his sights at junior bantamweight.
There’s every reason to believe 2024 can deliver in the ring the same way 2023 did. There’s a lot to look forward to if the stars align the right way.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com