The Impending Death of Boxing
A little over a week ago, Terrence Crawford fought in his 28th bout against Hank Lundy, a fighter out of Philadelphia.
Despite a vow to myself a few days prior, to cover every major boxing event, I could not ‘get up’ to write even a single word about the bout. This fight was a reminder of the current state of boxing or more bluntly put the impending death of boxing.
Boxing has been dying slowly over the past 2 or 3 decades with no end in sight.
Without slighting Hank Lundy, as he is a decent boxer who clearly takes risks in his career (an admirable trait), Terence Crawford as an undefeated, high level boxer holding a major belt, at this point in his career, should never be facing a challenger with 6 losses AND 2 of those losses in his last 3 bouts.
There are reasons for ‘gimme’ fights such as testing a fighters’ attributes in his first ten or so fights, as a tune up after a time away from the ring, recovery from a particularly brutal fight, a confidence builder after a loss, or elevating a fighters’ celebrity by pitting him against a former high level champ past his prime.
Crawford vs Lundy did not fit any of these criteria. It only served to line Bob Arum’s pockets and contribute to the slow decay and even death of boxing.
Fighters hide behind promoters, promoters hide behind fighters and in this circle of boxing bureaucracy very rarely do good, competitive fights get made.
