Boxing in 2025 was a year of stark contrasts: the sport mourned the death of a hero, operated without Tyson Fury, and witnessed Anthony Joshua win a carnival fight just days before a tragic accident. It was an exceptional twelve months, filled with sell-out stadiums, stunning knockouts, and high-profile defections, but also allegations of fixed fights, premature stoppages, and too many deaths inside the ring.
Three major stadium events in Britain attracted a combined live audience of roughly 220,000, with a further ten shows drawing 15,000 fans to indoor arenas. The World Amateur Championships visited Britain for the first time since 1974, with exceptional action in Liverpool undermined by poor coverage. Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr twice met at Tottenham’s ground, producing 24 rounds of brutal drama. Eubank Jr took the first decision, only to be hospitalised afterwards, while Benn won the rematch comfortably. In July, Oleksandr Usyk dropped and stopped Daniel Dubois before more than 90,000 at Wembley, becoming undisputed champion again, though Dubois faced harsh criticism in defeat.
That criticism of losing fighters became a disturbing trend. Never have so many boxers been labelled cowards or useless by the modern media, a low point for the sport’s coverage. Yet British success stories abounded. Nick Ball defended his WBA featherweight title twice, Jazza Dickens and Fabio Wardley were upgraded to world champions, and Wardley’s year reached a remarkable peak when he stopped Joseph Parker for the interim WBO heavyweight title, later becoming full champion when Usyk vacated. Jeamie TKV’s brawl with Frazer Clarke for the vacant British heavyweight title on BBC 2 marked a welcome return to terrestrial television, a reminder of boxing’s bloody reality.
Anthony Yarde lost a world title fight in Saudi Arabia, while Hamzah Sheeraz earned a disputed draw there before rebounding with a significant win in New York. Lewis Crocker outboxed Paddy Donovan in Belfast for the vacant IBF welterweight title. In the women’s ranks, Lauren Price defeated Tasha Jonas at the Royal Albert Hall for three welterweight belts, Caroline Dubois defended her WBC light title in Miami, and Ellie Scotney added a world title in New York. But with Terri Harper managing only one defence, it was not a vintage year for female boxing.
Domestically, Callum Smith’s victory over Joshua Buatsi in Riyadh in February was a fight-of-the-year contender, while Conah Walker’s last-round win over Pat McCormack in Monte Carlo was equally thrilling, though it should have been for the British title rather than staged overseas. The sport endured its share of tragedy and controversy, yet the quality of competition remained as compelling as ever.
