Elite-level pro boxing has become the most predictable sport on the planet

So why do you watch the sport and get on these forums if thats the way you feel about boxing?

 

Now Predict Postol-Crawford, Thurman-Porter, and Ward-Kovalev.

 

Crawford, Porter, Kovalev

 

Way too many mismatches, top fighter's ducking eachother, champions padding their inflated records off weak voluntaries etc. That's one of the reasons why MMA became so popular in such a short amount of time, the best always fight the best. Every event is packed with pick 'em fights.

 

Great post. It's certainly frustrated me over the years and it's worse now than ever. You've got fighters and the managers of fighters looking at the mayweather model and trying to copy it. The problem is floyd was super talented, even if he did pick his battles wisely. It's virtually impossible to replicate his success or the money he made.

 

Wilder vs povetkin is not an easy one to predict.

 

The worst part is that the fights that loom on the horizon are mismatches too (besides the HW division, as you pointed out).

GGG vs Canelo will be a quick demolition.

Lomachenko vs Martinez will be a one-sided schooling.

Terence Crawford will embarrass the robotic Viktor Postol.

Leo Santa Cruz will steamroll the Euro-hypejob Carl Frampton.

On a positive note, Provodnikov vs Molina and Thurman vs Porter should be very competitive.

 

Andre Ward is not going to fight Sergei Kovalev, Stop deluding yourself. There is a difference between your dreams and the real world.

 

Too many weight divisions

 

So then bet lots of money on these predictable fights and post your betting ticket.

 

That's the key point. And it takes wilful naivete from us boxing devotees to accept it. Boxing's the only sport in which a participant, or the promoter who contractually represents him simply makes the match and chooses his opponent. Mismatches are the rule because of boxing's lack of structure. The championship matches you mention in other sports happen because both participants rose up the rankings by beating other participants of similar rank within a structured schedule. Boxing needs a central global governing body running the sport form top to bottom, who schedules fights through a structured format based on results.

There's nothing inherent in boxing in the ring as some like to insist that would make this impossible, it's just the greed of promoters and the forces that be that prevents any sensible change from the status quo. As it is, competitive fights will only happen when promoters consider there to be so much public interest that not making the fight is financially detrimental, but 95% of fights will continue to be as disgustingly predictable as the sham that Canelo-Khan was.