The sport of boxing caught fire in 2024. Four fighters achieved undisputed status, including Artur Beterbiev at light heavyweight and Oleksandr Usyk at heavyweight.
These new champions mean we get to see some long-awaited showdowns like Usyk vs. Tyson Fury (twice) and Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol (which will see a second matchup in February). Jack Paul vs. Mike Tyson was an incredible spectacle.
While last year saw some chaos, most of it was fairly predictable. But the new year could see some sweeping changes at the top of the sport.
With that in mind, our experts have made some predictions for what could happen in the new year.
Amanda Serrano discovers the cruel bond of rivalry with Katie Taylor
After two bitterly close losses in what could be called two of the biggest fights in women’s boxing history, there’s no question that Serrano will have plenty of motivation to deliver the boom in their inevitable trilogy. Ideally, that fight would take place in 2025 on Taylor’s home ground in Ireland at Dublin’s historic Croke Park. But until the two living legends finally agree to shun the past and embrace the future by adopting the 12 three-minute-round men’s boxing format (which has long since died out at the elite level of the women’s sport), the odds of a Serrano finish only grow as he grows older. The puncher is. Taylor’s aggressive, spamming style of boxing saw Serrano land big punches by split decision in their first meeting as the headliner at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2022.
Serrano was forced to settle for second best again in November when their big-money rematch, which saw a record number of homes on Netflix as the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson co-main event, ended in controversy over Taylor’s unanimous decision. After a series of Taylor’s head butts the decision was between the cries of foul play by Serrano’s team although both fights were extremely close, Serrano ended up the hard-luck loser in both. There is too much money in their rivalry to avoid a third fight, especially considering the contentious nature of the scorecards after 20 combined rounds. In some ways, their rivalry can be compared to Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez when Pacquiao took two controversial wins and a draw in their first three fights, all of which Marquez felt he won. In their fourth and deciding showdown in 2012, Marquez finally announced a violent stop by knocking Pacquiao out cold to raise his hand. Given Taylor’s age — he’ll be 39 in July — the 36-year-old Serrano may be able to completely change his strategy and go from the opening bell to the finish, setting an even more frenetic pace than the two fought. November And if he’s allowed three minutes per round, the chances of finishing Serrano — even on Irish soil — are only for the seven-division champion, who has moved up three weight divisions to face Taylor in their rematch. — Brian Campbell
Fresh faces attack the pound-for-pound ranks
The average age of the top five fighters in the CBS Sports pound-for-pound rankings is 35.6. The average age of Daga fighters is six to 10? 28.6.
There are talented young fighters quickly making their name in the sport while the elite are rushing towards retirement. 2025 looks like a year where the seniors start taking over those top spots while other youngsters join their ranks. Terence Crawford holds down the No. 3 spot, but the 37-year-old doesn’t look like his old self after moving up from welterweight, and a loss in 2025 doesn’t feel entirely out of the question. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez sits at No. 8 with an exciting future ahead of him, No. 7 Garvonta Davis is viewed as arguably the sport’s biggest star at age 30 and unranked Junto Nakatani is a rising 26. 2025 looks like the year where we see significant upward movement from these emerging young fighters as the year winds down, with the pound-for-pound rankings looking very different. — Brent Brookhouse
Naoya Inoue went up and won the featherweight title
My colleague Brent Brookhouse actually picked it last year, and while it didn’t happen, it makes sense for it to take place in 2025. Eno won multiple boxing world championships in four divisions. “The Monster” has primarily fought at junior featherweight (122 pounds) for the past few years. He succeeded in his victory to become the only undisputed super bantamweight champion and one of three two-division undisputed champions of the four-belt era.
A planned title defense against Sam Goodman was pushed from Christmas Eve to January 24. If Eno is successful in his third title defense, don’t be surprised to see him set new goals. I expect Inoue to jump four pounds and the easiest route would be a fight against WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza, both of whom are promoted by the top ranks.
Inoue — who has won titles at junior flyweight, junior bantamweight, bantamweight and junior featherweight — will join a Hall of Fame lineup by winning his fifth weight class title. Inoue would become one of six quintuple men’s boxing champions, along with Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. — Shakeel Mahjuri
Leave a comment