Did you guys know boxing was on this weekend?
No, seriously. I almost spit my coffee out when I realized Anthony Joshua fought today and Tyson Fury fought the day before. Somewhere between Power Slap, influencer boxing, slap-fighting grandmothers, and whatever Jake Paul is doing this week, actual heavyweight boxing quietly snuck onto the schedule.
And that's the problem.There was a time when heavyweight boxing stopped the world. Mike Tyson fought? The streets emptied. Lennox Lewis? Appointment television. Evander Holyfield. Riddick Bowe. George Foreman somehow winning titles when he looked old enough to be yelling at kids to get off his lawn. Tommy Morrison. Chris Byrd. James Toney. Vinny Paz. Oscar De La Hoya. Bernard Hopkins. Roy Jones Jr. Julian Jackson... the list goes on forever.
Those weren't just fighters.
They were events.
Today? We get tune-up fights against opponents most casual fans couldn't pick out of a police lineup.
Anthony Joshua (England) returned at the Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, against Albania's Kristian Prenga. Joshua entered as a massive betting favorite—roughly around a 20-to-1 favorite depending on the sportsbook—so naturally boxing did what boxing does...
...he got dropped.
Twice.
In the opening round.
Against a guy who was basically brought in to make sure the real money fight with Tyson Fury stayed alive.
To Joshua's credit, he showed tremendous heart. He gathered himself, came out firing in Round 2, landed a crushing right hand, and finished Prenga with a second-round knockout. The official stoppage came at 2:43 of Round 2. It was dramatic, entertaining, and probably gave Eddie Hearn three heart attacks before dessert.
The card took place in Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season. While the crowd was solid, this wasn't one of those packed, electric heavyweight nights that used to define the sport.
Then there was Tyson Fury.The "Gypsy King" (England) fought Poland's Mariusz Wach in Thailand just 24 hours earlier.
Calling it competitive would be generous.
Wach, now 46 years old, absorbed punishment before retiring on his stool before the start of Round 8. Fury won by eighth-round RTD, but let's be honest—it looked exactly like what it was: a stay-busy fight designed to keep the Joshua mega-fight alive.
And that's where boxing loses me.
We're constantly sold "the next big thing," except the next big thing is usually someone fighting a guy whose best years were during the Obama administration.
Meanwhile, UFC has taken a gigantic bite out of boxing's audience.
Now before the keyboard warriors start typing...
I LOVE MMA.
Those men are absolute psychopaths—in the most complimentary way possible. If one of those elite UFC heavyweights gets a hold of a boxer in an actual MMA fight, they're turning him into a human pretzel before he can remember where he parked his car.
Those guys are killers.
But UFC also feels... choreographed.
Not the fights—the product.
It's presented almost like WWE. Storylines. Press conferences. Built-up rivalries. Every event feels important because Dana White understands something boxing promoters forgot years ago...
Sell the event.
Boxing, meanwhile, spends six months telling us why two guys should fight... then waits another three years to actually make it happen.
By then everybody's 37.
Or 38.
Or recovering from three surgeries and two retirements.
The sad part?
The sweet science is still beautiful.
There's nothing prettier than elite boxing. Great footwork. Timing. Angles. Defense. Counter punching. The sound of a perfect right hand landing flush. When boxing is at its best, I still think it's the greatest combat sport on Earth.
The problem is we don't get enough of that.
Instead, we get tune-ups.
Mandatory defenses.
Interim champions.
Diamond champions.
Silver champions.
Regular champions.
Super champions.
Franchise champions.
Thankfully, Joshua survived the scare, Fury handled business, and now it appears the fight everyone has wanted for nearly a decade is finally next. Contracts have reportedly been signed, with an official announcement expected soon if everything stays on track.
Better late than never.
I guess.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch highlights of Mike Tyson knocking people unconscious in 91 seconds and pretend heavyweight boxing never changed.