For this five-part series we reached out to several boxing insiders with various skills and experience in the industry and asked them about a number of key topics. In this installment, the question is: Who is the best fighter in the world right now and why?
Meet the panel:
Aaron Navarro, a cutman who has worked for more than 20 years at the highest level of the sport. He is the cutman for WBC junior lightweight titleholder O’Shaquie Foster and former titleholder Regis Prograis, as well as many other fighters.
Mike Rodriguez, a cutman who has worked with 29 world titleholders, including Manny Pacquiao, Katie Taylor, Julian Williams, Dmitry Bivol and Vergil Ortiz Jnr.
AJ Jafari is one half of 3pt Management along with David Suh. Jafari’s company manages the careers of Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, John “Scrappy” Ramirez, Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Darius Fulghum.
Roberto Diaz is the president of Sheer Sports and the former matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions.
John Pullman is a boxing coach who currently trains women’s lightweight Stephanie Simon and flyweight Enkhmandakh Kharkhuu.
Rudy Hernandez is a boxing coach from Los Angeles, California, who currently trains two world titleholders: unified bantamweight titleholder Junto Nakatani and flyweight titleholder Anthony Olascuaga.
Jolene Mizzone is a former matchmaker who went on to be the VP for Main Events. Now, she is in her third year as a manager working with Fighters First Management.
Pepe Reilly is a 1992 US Olympian, a former professional fighter, and a trainer at Wild Card Boxing in Los Angeles.
Mark DeLuca is a former professional boxer who now trains fighters in Massachusetts, working with Abraham Nova, Thomas O’Toole, Francis Hogan and other up-and-coming fighters.
Eddie Croft is a former professional boxer and is currently a trainer at his gym, B. St Boxing, in San Mateo, California.
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Roberto Diaz: Where is professional boxing heading in the next five years? That is a very good question. The times are changing, and a lot of questions need to be asked in somewhat uncertain times. TV deals changing, budgets changing, our world is changing, why not our sports? We have enjoyed the ride and have had some great bouts that we are fortunate to be watching.
AJ Jafari: Being optimistic, boxing will be the fastest-growing sport by 2030. Boxing has the most potential for growth, in my opinion. It's in a good place at the moment. It will never be perfect. It's the wild, wild west of sports, but the talent pool is very deep, and fans are getting good matches with stacked cards that were not the case 5-10 years ago. Young fighters aren't waiting multiple years or so to fight each other, and we're getting more super-fights than ever, and it's becoming the norm that fans expect high-level matchups. So the question or flipside is, can this be a sustainable model? Do the numbers and business around these fights make sense as the Purses are what's driving these Marquee matchups? Then there's the networks. Outside of DAZN, the TV network situation is still a little unclear. If other networks or streaming platforms fully invest in boxing as they do in other major sports, then boxing's growth has the potential to skyrocket.
Mike Rodriguez: Boxing is still the wild, wild west, and it’s truly survival of the fittest. We are seeing different promotional entities work together out of necessity; however, the fighters need to step up and do more talking in the ring rather than on social media. Lots of fighters are selling wolf tickets. We were spoiled in the 80s and 90s. I’m all for fighters earning what’s fair, but lots of fighters are not chasing greatness but rather fame. Fighters need to make great fights happen.
Mark DeLuca: There’s a lot of business being done in the Middle East. Turki [Alalshikh] could be transforming the “Floyd Era” of undefeated records back to what it once was. Fighters fighting proper fights and not being written off if they take a loss. I think breaking that stigma will have boxing booming.
Jolene Mizzone: I would love to go back to the days when I first started in this business (1997), when I would be at family functions or parties, and the average Joe knew the names in boxing, whether the top guys or even just the opponents. I am hoping more networks or big streaming companies come into the business and show more boxing. I think one thing that we lack in boxing is building up opponents. Most only focus on the A-side, which is a big mistake. I also think more reporters should cover club shows, most of the big names come out of fighting on a club show at one point in their career.
John Pullman: Boxing is in a very good place. There are a lot of hungry promoters trying to put their signature on boxing. Competition breeds creativity and an environment for the sport to really grow and expand.
Pepe Reilly: Professional boxing might be heading to a more legitimized placement. With all the changes happening at this point, it might be hard to say exactly where it ends up. I do hope that the sport adopts an efficient system that is fair to everyone involved. The fans really love this sport and are loyal to well-structured, well-organized events.
Eddie Croft: To me, boxing looks like it will be more fragmented than ever now, with Turki and the UFC parent company jumping in. I feel like they are trying to monopolize the sport. Years ago, I thought you could have a bunch of fighters and you could pay them a salary, and there were tiers, and you ran it similar to soccer leagues in Europe. Guys would fight, and they have to perform to a certain standard.
The thing about boxing that the general public will never understand is that boxing has a carnival aspect to it. It is like a sideshow. People want to see someone like Jake Paul. That is why he is so intriguing. People want to see what is going to happen. The normal person who isn’t a hardcore boxing fan thinks Jake Paul is great.
Aaron Navarro: This has been one of the strangest years of boxing I can remember. It hasn’t had a real rhythm at all. There are a lot of changes coming, not only in the networks, but with promoters, too. Then, the influx of money from the Saudis. It has been a year of transition. Everything is different, and I don’t think we have gotten into a settled-down groove, where we can tell what the new track is going to be.
Rudy Hernandez: I can honestly tell you that I don’t know. I don’t think boxing is as good as it used to be, because there was activity all the time, whether it was Las Vegas or Los Angeles. Today we don’t have as many events as we used to.