Former Champ Timothy Bradley Predicts ‘Boxing Is Going to Be Dead’ After Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford Retire

The future of boxing is on the ropes according to boxing champion Timothy Bradley. Although it is the sport he loves, the retired boxer does not see a future for the sport. At the moment, the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford are carrying the sport on their backs but Bradley fears that once they are gone, things will begin to turn sour.

In a recent interview with Pro Box TV, Bradley spoke about what would happen when the likes of Alvarez and Crawford decide to retire,

“While Crawford is here, let’s continue to give him his flowers. While Canelo is here, let’s continue to give him his flowers because once they’re gone man boxing is going to be kind of dead I’m not gonna lie.”

 

Bradley does not see any future for the sport with the current up and coming fighters, none of them are apparently superstar calibre with the star power to let it shine on the sport for another generation.

This of course, may not be all true, with the likes of Shakur Stevenson, Gervonta Davis, and Devin Haney making a name for themselves internationally. And if Ryan Garcia does decide to let go for the bizarro ways of life and return to boxing, then we already have a bona fine superstar in our mix.

Besides, there is one major player that is trying to take it to the next level- The Saudi Arabians, lead by Turki Alalshikh. Now, what they are essentiallly trying to create a monopoly in the sport but that is a conversation nobody is prepared to have yet.

Alalshikh and the Saudi Boxing league

Currently, the sport of boxing has a lot of politics involved, with different promotions who decide which fighter to fight next. And this usually prevents the biggest fights from taking place.

However, according to Boxing analyst Dan Canobbio, the Boxing Saudi Wealth Fund is looking to buy out all the major promotions,

“If there’s one entity….that has a majority of the promotions, then we have ourselves a league. We have ourselves something close to rivalling what the UFC has now.”

According to Cannobio, this could take boxing back to its glory days where all the top fighters are fighting each other. Avoiding all the politics that comes with match making.

One entity would own all the promotions and all fighters will be signed under the same banner. This would essentially make it a similar model to that of the UFC.

This heralds in a newer and far bigger problem for the sport and its future. Take UFC’s example. Dana White’s company might be the biggest name out there but how many stars has it really produced that could sell out an arena compared to any other athlete in any other sport?

We just saw the company having to cut the ticket prices for UFC Noche by a huge margin just to fill up the seats. UFC doesn’t spend a lot of time promoting fighters and building them into superstars. And what’s worse is that it doesn’t pay the fighters well either.

So, while the Michael Jordans of the world will continue to sign with Nike and build a brand for themselves that continues to pay in the long run, no UFC athlete will get to that point (Conor McGregor is an aberration). Primarily because the company doesn’t allow fighters to have individual sponsors.

The problem with a monopolizing is that it places too much power in the hands of one single centralized office, which can then dictate the rules and regulations of the sport and the wellbeing of the athletes, leading to a potential rut in rising talent.  And without any potential competition, they will virtually go unchallenged.

So, yes, while boxing promotions need to do better to keep the sport alive and well, placing it in the palms of oil empires from the east is probably not the route best suited.