Anthony Crolla, former lightweight beltholder and now burgeoning British trainer, has expressed his concern about the health of boxing in the UK.
When Crolla was active – he retired in 2019 with a 35-7-3 (13 KOs) record – the sport was flying high in Britain. There were multiple world champions and barely a weekend went by that didn’t contain a noteworthy show. That is not the case today, despite what one of the industry’s leading journalists might tell you.
Several factors should be considered when contemplating why. Crolla’s rise to the top coincided with that of several of his countrymen and, after a such a bright period, it’s logical that it will take time for the next generation of talent to come through. The pandemic of 2020-2021 also left its mark.
Yet there is another reason, Crolla believes. The growing influence of Turki Alalshikh’s General Entertainment Authority, and their desire to pack cards to bursting point, has seen a dip in both the standard and frequency of other shows. Understandably, the leading promoters are saving their brightest stars for events associated with Alalshikh’s deep pockets and, consequently, not showcasing them independently. The domino effect of that – with big independent events now so rare, the opportunities on independent undercards are even more so – is showing no signs of slowing down.
“[With the Saudi shows] you are seeing five great fights but what you have there are five fights that could be five headliners for five different shows,” Crolla told One On One.
“You see it now, the fighters that are with what you’d call [one of] the big four promoters, they haven’t got as many dates, so they can’t get all their fighters out so what you are seeing is the prospects on small halls – which is good for them, they have to be active – but that wouldn’t have happened at one time because they’d have had their dates scheduled.”
There have been similar concerns voiced in America. One must only look at the upcoming November 22 show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as a case in point. Without question, it is one of the finest shows in recent memory and includes David Benavidez-Anthony Yarde, Brian Norman Jnr-Devin Haney, Abdullah Mason-Sam Noakes and Artur Beterbiev-Deon Nicholson. Each of those fights would have been appealing main events in their own right.
It might seem churlish to grumble about such enticing shows but, as Crolla points out, there simply isn’t enough elite fighters to go around to sustain week-to-week interest if they’re all being showcased on just a handful of events.
“For me, British boxing, right now is in a major crisis,” Crolla said. “The small hall [scene] has been absolutely murdered because of that and the amount of [big] UK shows have been cut in half, maybe even less. We used to get a few shows every month on a [major] platform. I’m worried.”
