Opinion: Thoughts on the Current State of Boxing

This is my first post since June of 2025 and I have done a poor job maintaining this blog. I want to make 2026 a better year for my boxing writing and post more. My opinions have tended to be more anonymous on boxing forum platforms and I would like to begin publishing more under my name. A lot has happened in boxing over the last year and I am going to weigh in with this post.

Mario Barrios vs Ryan Garcia is not PPV Worthy

Bust my balls all you want but this is HBO After Dark level boxing. Despite the fact that the WBC title is on the line, Barrios has not won a fight since 2024 and Garcia has not officially won a bout since 2023. Barrios has never won a world championship fight, he won the WBC interim title when he defeated Yordenis Ugas and was activated when Terrence Crawford vacated. Since then he has defended the title twice via draw in fights many felt he should be 0-2 in. One of those fights was against the 46 year-old Manny Pacquiao who had been retired for several years and had no tune up fights. Ryan Garcia is a name in the sport whose reputation exceeds what he has actually accomplished. He had a breakout performance in 2024 when he dropped Devin Haney several times on the way to a massive decision before failing his PED test. Following his suspension, he looked lackluster versus Rolly Romero who is not really an elite fighter and he had to pick himself up off the canvas. This may sound cruel but Garcia is a mental midget head case, pampered Prima Donna who hides behind mental health to make racist rants on social media. He is super talented but not sufficiently dedicated with his bizarre behavior. He pulled the training in his living room reminiscent of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr when he was on the slide down. Maybe I am underestimating him again and clouding my judgement with my personal dislike for Garcia, I think Barrios out works him and wins a decision.

Zuffa Boxing Delivers So Far

I was very skeptical of Dana White and Zuffa Boxing when the idea was first announced. I know many boxing fans hate Dana White and UFC, I am not one of them. I like MMA and boxing and take a lot of Dana’s rhetoric to be promotional and take as business not personal. I was alarmed by Dana and his cronies trying to change the Ali Act and still worry that his pull with president Donald Trump may see a good legislation designed to protect fighters get repealed. I am also suspicious of this league just making new belts or claim the Ring Magazine championship and lead to a league isolated from the rest of boxing. I fear this because it could become yet another obstacle to fights getting made. Also, the UFC has had some fighter safety related scandals in recent years. (Yes I know boxing is no angel)

That said the product put in the ring has been good. Radivoje Kalajdzic scored an unbelievable come from behind KO over former light heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Justin Viloria and Oscar Perez went toe to toe in a war at lightweight. In the most recent card Efe Ajagba scored a brutal stoppage over former titleholder Charles Martin at heavyweight. YouTube comments mocked the mismatch but Martin came out and won the first two rounds and was winning the third before being sent down on a right hand. He bravely rushed out in round four to exchange rather than survive and got clocked. Some have mocked the small crowds and austere trunks assigned by Zuffa but that shit does not really bother me. They have competitive match ups and good fights without a bunch of filler in between. Fight one ends, fight two begins shortly after. I like the Sunday shows too, I can have my Saturday night and still get boxing. It is a nice have cake and eat it too combination.

The Sanctioning Bodies are Blowing It!

To me one thing is very clear, Zuffa Boxing and Ring Magazine with Turki Alasheikh and Dana White are trying to undermine the sanctioning bodies. Fighters like Terrence Crawford and Shakur Stevenson have recently had issues with the WBC and another big name fighter like Keyshawn Davis has also blasted the organization. All 3 are close to Turki and it seems obvious to me that they are trying to de-legitimize (not sure if that’s the right word) the sanctioning bodies. I cannot say I love the four major organizations and they are doing plenty on their own to harm their own credibility. There are far too many interim titles, side show belts like the “regular title” and they either force awful mandatory challengers or try to collect fees that they are not entitled to. I do see a lot of idiots online trying to defend the four belt system and say one champion would be bad. I think those people are dumb but I do worry about a unification of the sport and who winds up controlling it. I am willing to at least see the sport head in that direction.