Was Boxing Better in the 2000s?

In short, no. Boxing was not better during the years of 2000 through 2009. In fact, boxing faded almost completely from cultural relevance in the 2000s. Of course, the sport's heyday was in the late 60s and 70s, but even in the 80s and 90s, we had plenty of stars, plenty of household names that even non-boxing fans here in America knew of. By the end of the millennium, that started to change. We still had people like Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya and Mike Tyson but they were past their prime and in the case of Mike Tyson, had become a sad sideshow.

Does this mean there were no quality boxers and superstar talents? Absolutely not. Some all-time greats were in their prime at some point from 2000-2009 but they didn't really move the needle in terms of bringing in casual fans. Floyd Mayweather Jr. could certainly be an exception. Almost. The problem with Floyd was that he just wasn't very exciting to watch for most people after he became a champ. He had a defensive style and had mastered the art of not taking damage during fights, which also meant that he didn't take a lot of chances either. Boxing purists, most of them at least, loved it but this is exactly the schism that would (and continues to) plague boxing in the 21st century. It became a niche sport for only hardcore boxing fans, with little interest - or at least desire - to bring in the mass audiences.

Floyd also fought anywhere from 126 pounds to about 150 pounds. Unless you are super exciting, super charismatic and have a compelling story, it is very hard to carry the sport in terms of popularity at any lower weight class. Boxing usually goes as the heavyweight division goes and I don't think it can be argued that the new century was a dark time for the big fellas. Here is a list of the heavyweight champions from 2000-2009:

1. Lennox Lewis

2. Herbie Hide

3. Vitali Klitschko

4. Chris Byrd

5. Evander Holyfield

6. Wladimir Klitschko

7. John Ruiz

8. Hasim Rahman

9. Lennox Lewis again

10. Chris Byrd again

11. Roy Jones Jr.

12. Corrie Sanders

13. John Ruiz again

14. Lamon Brewster

15. Vitali Klitschko again

16. Nikolai Valuev

17. Siarhei Liakhovich

18. Wladimir Klitschko again

19. Oleg Maskaev

20. Shannon Briggs

21. Ruslan Chagaev

22. Sultan Ibragimov

23. Samuel Peter

24. Nikolai Valuev

25. Vitali Klitschko again

26. David Haye

There are at least 3 problems with this list. First is that many of these names are not at all familiar to non-hardcore fans, nor were they at the time. Second is that very few of them are Americans, which of course matters to other Americans, but it also matters to the rest of the world a little, too. American fighters are almost always going to be more popular. The third problem is that it is a long list! Nobody was able to hold onto the belt for very long. Some were able to retain the belt, like the Klitschko brothers, but no one remained a champion for more than 2 years in that span. For boxing to achieve mainstream success, it needs dominant fighters and during the better eras, if you were to ask the average layperson who the heavyweight champion was, they could probably tell you or at least muster a reasonable guess. If you asked most casual sports fan this question in the 2000s, I don't think many of them would be able to venture a guess at all.

There was certainly some talent, no doubt. Both Vladimir and Vitali Klitschko had skills, as well as plenty of TKO finishes but not as much of highlight reel stuff that gets people excited and not against big name opponents. Plus, part of selling the sport of boxing (or just about any sport) is personality. The Klitschko brothers are good guys and are heroes in their native Ukraine, but certainly not dynamic, interesting personalities that can act as the face of their sport. Lennox Lewis, who started off the 2000s as the champ, is very much the same thing for me. Nice guy, cool cat, great boxer but doesn't get people excited and interested.

The 2000s also saw more attention and awareness come to the uglier side of boxing, which is the fight business. We certainly saw this in the 90s too, but it really came into prominence later. The average Joe may not have known who the heavyweight champion was at any point during that decade but probably knew who Don King was and had some knowledge that the boxing business was generally messed up. Promoters had control and we started to see a bit more ducking of fights, as well as just fights not happening because the two parties couldn't agree on contractual terms. HBO and Showtime still covered some big fights, although more and more began to migrate to pay-per-view, as boxing knew their hardcore fans would pay a high price and stopped fighting for the casual audience.

For over 100 years, boxing had also been THE combat sport that everybody knew. This would change in the 2000s. Mixed martial arts and the UFC started becoming bigger and bigger, and that spark turned into a fire in 2004. The UFC had launched a reality show on a small cable network, Spike, where prospective fighters trained and competed in a tournament that went on through the duration of the show, culminating in the finale, where the 2 best prospects went against each other in what would be their first,recognized professional fight. Season 1

matched Stephan Bonnar against Forrest Griffin, which is widely believed to be a fight that changed history forever. The UFC had stalled a bit in  popularity and was on the cusp (or at least close to the cusp) of just being relegated to another niche sport until the finale drew in record audiences and catapulted the league into mainstream success. It is said that much of the viewership came in during the broadcast, as people literally called their friends and told them to turn the TV on right now and check out this legendary fight.

Besides combat sports fans liking the UFC's mixed martial arts product, they also liked that in many ways, it was the opposite of boxing. It was a league, controlled by one commissioner just like the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. and if you were the champion, you had to fight all of the best contenders in your weight class. By the end of 2009, the only boxing fight people really wanted - Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Manny Pacquiao - had been stalled for at least 3 years (would be another 5 before it finally happened) whereas the UFC had just enjoyed their greatest success ever with UFC 100. Both sports were trending in opposite directions.

Things wouldn't exactly get better in the following decade for boxing. However, as I write this now, in 2024, I would say that there is definitely some new life in the sport. It's not culturally relevant in the way it was in the 1900s and probably never will be but there is some more overall awareness and in a different way. Social media has changed the game, for sure, and more people actually train in boxing than ever before. It used to be that only boxers learned how to box, but now it is something people do for fun and fitness. While they may not tune into the pay-per-view fights regularly, they may see highlights on Instagram and generally have a greater understanding of the sport and the fighters than most did in the 2000s. There is plenty of talent out there too. Sadly, most of it is still in the lighter weight classes but maybe average fans will start to appreciate them more as they learn the sport so it doesn't have to be carried by the heavyweights.

One more thing I want to say because I only briefly mentioned his name but after learning recently just
how underrated he is according to the internet, I feel like it is worth bringing up Manny Pacquiao again. In my opinion, he was the best fighter of the decade from 2000-2009 and as mentioned in my last post, the greatest southpaw of all time. He had only 1 loss, to Erik Morales which he avenged, in 26 fights during the 2000s against relatively high-profile opponents and finished almost all of them. He was exciting to watch and worth paying to see. There weren't many other people I could say that about during Y2K so here is to you, Pac Man.

Speaking of great fights, I feel I would be remiss in my generally-negative spin on 2000s-era if I didn't mention that one of the best boxing matches you will ever see took place in that decade. Micky Ward vs. Arturo Gatti I in 2002. The whole trilogy was good but this was a slugfest like no other. Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera I is widely considered one of the best and it is certainly a great fight. Corrales vs Castillo is up there too. I just watched Felix Trinidad vs. Fernando Vargas and probably liked it better though. And Ward-Gatti is still my #1. One great thing about living in modern times that, of course, we did not have in the good ol' days is that we can watch any of these fights, or any other classics from any era, online with the touch of a button and that is pretty sweet!