As Boxing Approaches The Fourth Quarter, Questions About the Sport’s Future Loom

After getting a lot of bang for our buck since 2023, this year has been frustrating for fight fans.

Now, don’t get me wrong, a sign of boxing’s direction might be trending the wrong way when a generational circus fight between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr was viewed as the best fight of the year. The bout took place at a catchweight and had no title implications. In a sign of the times, it was about famous names, resuming a grudge match their fathers had.

This year, we have had good fights, including Najee Lopez versus Manuel Gallegos. I am looking at you. But after two-and-a-half years of being spoiled with terrific dream fights, we have hit a lull. We could question why that is. Let’s just understand, first and foremost, that we are here.

The dream fights we got right after left in 2024 and continued into mega-cards in 2025 don’t seem to be happening anymore; instead, discussions about potential fights are trending. The biggest one is Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua. Eight years ago, they were two top heavyweights; today, they are two famous names who are essentially washed. Fury probably beats Joshua easily, but I guess the optics seem fun. Yet the fight isn’t being made, and this is the biggest fight on the horizon.

It isn’t Jaron “Boots” Ennis versus Vergil Ortiz; it isn’t Devin Haney versus another top name; it is Fury vs. Joshua. Also, what I perceive as an essential mismatch is when WBC welterweight champ Ryan Garcia will face the largely unproven Benn moving back down in weight after beating Eubank Jr in the rematch.

Boxing feels like a business endeavor. Sure, it is a sport, but right now, there is a chance it is truly consolidating, and to me, this feels like a transitional period.

Meet Zuffa Boxing, the entity backed by SELA and part of the TKO Group, which also includes the WWE and UFC. Zuffa came into fruition last year when they promoted Terence Crawford versus Canelo Alvarez, but in January, they established themselves with solid shows on Paramount+, a more affordable platform than DAZN.

So part of the slowdown appears to be a divide.

Traditional promoters, Top Rank, Golden Boy, Matchroom Boxing, and Premier Boxing Champions, have all landed on DAZN. That isn’t just by luck or chance. From the outside looking in, Zuffa has scared the industry, and the consolidation DAZN originally hoped for in its infancy has happened, more out of necessity for the promotions to stay afloat and relevant. Fight dates are fleeting, and while we enjoyed a great couple of years of main event fights, undercard fighters suffered.

Case in point: Jesus Ramos Jr., who fights in a few weeks, should be a main-card fighter. Instead, he is steadily on the undercard and not all that active. The dates are fleeting; the future is unknown. You have an investigative journalist trying to predict what will happen, but in reality, no one knows. Everyone has been wrong.

In this boxing power struggle, the fans have been screwed.

There are more fights on pay-per-view than ever. Not many of them are compelling. Then you factor in that the NFL, NBA, and other sports are cheaper to watch. They often provide more entertainment and better matchups. Boxing is asking too much if you don’t love the sport and are addicted. In 2026, it is hard to believe a casual boxing fan can exist.

Why, you might ask? How do you casually see boxing anymore? Social media?

The sport has moved to apps. Even with the advent of Dana White (Zuffa Boxing’s head honcho) at the forefront, it is hard not to recall how MMA was built on marketing tools and how their sport is a more advanced and “real” version of boxing. While White is a figure some are drawn to, that audience is less keen on being a fan of boxing. At least so far.

The Zuffa Boxing product feels as though it is speaking to a new fan, trying to instill what to perceive, while traditional promoters are all on DAZN, with each telecast bleeding into the next.

The issue is egos. Or is it deeper?

The buildup to the “mega-fight” between Fury and Joshua seems more like a power play. Can White and Zuffa Boxing make a big fight with Joshua, one of Matchroom’s biggest fighters? They have already signed Conor Benn, who was previously promoted by Matchroom.

Promoters have taken the networks, the fans, and the access for granted. Now, dates are few and far between. Good fights are the only acceptable currency; a bad, stay-busy fight stands out on an otherwise dry schedule. It isn’t just that this year has been uneventful; it is more so: where are we going? Let me answer that: no one knows.

Zuffa has promoters scared, but they are not moving the needle as much as many expected. Boxing in America is as irrelevant as it has ever been. Even worse, no one is here to fill the void, just yet. My concern is: do the fans move on at some point? It feels like 10,000 people faithfully follow the sport, but in a dwindling media industry, with very few (compared to other sports) week-to-week boxing podcasts and little demand from major networks, boxing is being dealt a tough hand. Despite three good years of fights, years of kicking the can down the road, and a terrible economy, boxing has had to regroup. What used to work no longer does, and for 15 years, boxing has struggled with innovation.

I mean, look at MVP; they are doing well because they have ideas, but ideas take money. As we head toward a somber fall, with the Canelo Alvarez fight date and potentially a Devin Haney fight to be announced, the most compelling fight on the calendar is Emanuel Navarrete versus O’Shaquie Foster, both criminally underrated and great fighters. I love the matchup, but will the fighters get the build-up they deserve? I sure hope so, but I am not sure.

The truth is, nine months into the Zuffa experiment have proven to make boxing more divided, with no one clearly picking up the slack to carry the sport forward…yet

Lucas Ketelle

Lucas Ketelle is a boxing writer and podcaster who has appeared on various platforms throughout his career.

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