Modern boxers shun one of the sport's most important traditions
Individual sports like boxing differ from team sports in many ways. One of the best ways it differs is in the traditional passing of the torch.
Yea, sometimes torches are passed from team to team, but it's not often. The New England Patriots passed the torch to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs haven't won the Super Bowl in two seasons. To whom did the Chiefs pass the torch?
In team sports, unless there is a dynasty, usually there is a different champion every year.
In tennis, Pete Sampras passed the torch to Roger Federer in 2001 after Federer beat him on the court that made him famous at Wimbledon. Sampras won only one more Grand Slam title after that (U.S. Open in 2002) before officially retiring a year later.
In boxing, Marvin Hagler reigned as the undisputed middleweight champion of the world for eight years in the 80's. He begrudgingly passed the torch to Sugar Ray Leonard in 1987 when Leonard beat him in one of the most controversial decisions of all time. While that situation wasn't the young lion eating the old lion like with Sampras and Federer, there was a clear delineation from one era to the next.
Muhammad Ali passed the torch to Larry Holmes, who begrudgingly passed it to Mike Tyson, who was ready to hand it to Lennox Lewis, etc.
But lately in boxing, it seems like that tradition is down for the count.
Current boxing superstars won't pass the torch
Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has been recognized as the pound-for-pound king of the world for two years now. He says he has a 3-person list of fighters he wants to face before sailing off into the sunset.
Fans were left underwhelmed because his fight plan doesn't include Moses Itauma, the highly rated young British heavyweight who has yet to face competition on Usyk's level. Usyk is so close to retirement that he can see it on the horizon, but instead of fighting the young up-and-comer, he is fighting a kickboxer next month, and possibly two fighters he's already beaten twice each (Daniel Dubois and Tyson Fury) after that.
On Wednesday, Terence "Bud" Crawford was drawn back onto social media after Jaron "Boots" Ennis said in an interview that he would have KO'd Crawford if the two had fought before Crawford retired last year.
Crawford put out a series of tweets seemingly aimed at Boots, which he claimed were actually not about his young rival. But after initially claiming that the tweets were not about Boots, Crawford eventually said that Boots "can't even tie my shoes."
This weekend, David Benavidez is facing Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez, headlining the annual Cinco de Mayo fight weekend.
For years, Benavidez has done everything he can to goad current Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez into passing the torch to him. Canelo is reaching the twilight of his career, but he still commands the biggest purses in the sport.
Benavidez has been calling him out publicly for years, but Canelo has also repeatedly said he will never fight Benavidez.
But while the old lion refuses to step into the ring with the young, hungry lion, this week it was revealed that Canelo will attend Benavidez's fight this weekend. Canelo has been a staple of Cinco de Mayo boxing weekend since at least 2015, having missed fighting on the weekend only twice (once in 2018 and once in 2020 during COVID).
But he won't be fighting this weekend.
The torch may have been passed to Benavidez without Canelo's participation.
"You see how it works now, he would tell me that I was nothing," Benavidez said in an interview ahead of his fight. "That I wasn't a champion, that I wasn't this or that. That my career doesn't compete with his career. So now he is coming to my fight!"
Boxing would be better if Canelo fought Benavidez (or if Crawford fought Boots, or if Usyk fought Itauma, etc.), but the show doesn't stop for anyone, including the all-time greats.
Related: Shakur Stevenson has firm response to latest fight rumor
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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 5:08 PM.