In the issue of year-end awards of ring When I was a magazine editor, there were usually two pages called “Highly Unofficial Awards,” a compendium of the best, worst, and weirdest things from that year. (and some are the ancestors of The Raskies– One of those annual “honors” is called the “Spit-Or-Get-Off-The-Pot Award.”
We were not allowed to use curse words on the pages of the magazine at the time. But everyone understood the meaning. Others may need a bidet. So if you’re just wasting time sitting and reading a book Surfing your smartphone or whatever But I don’t do any business. Instead, get up and go do something else.
It’s a phrase that applies more to boxing than to most other sports. (including managers and sponsors) set their own schedules If some NBA superstar were unchallenged playing against a team that couldn’t defend him, That isn’t his fault. He was just playing against the opponent the league told him to play. But boxers have more free will in their competition. If their limited time in this sport is wasted. That is, to some extent, their own fault.
Here is my ranking at the dawn of the new year of the 10 fighters who most need to spit or get out of the pot in 2025:
The situation of “MJ” is different from other shows. that are in this list Because he is stalling because he is the letter needed to take Featherweight Champion Naoya Inoue and try to force that championship. And they clearly don’t want to take the risk. fight in the meantime
After an upset split decision loss to Marlen Tapales in April 2023, Akhmadaliev was offered The “position eliminator” for Kevin Gonzalez was unproven because this was how it would be according to the letter rankings and rules. One person is losing. The other one had never fought with anyone. Let them fight amongst themselves. And the winner will be ordered to challenge the belt holder! Akhmadaliev beat Gonzalez in injury time and became the enforcer. But Inoue has many belts and cannot fulfill all his commands at once. So Akhmadaliev and his team (Don’t have much patience) waiting their turn
Akhmadaliyev took the whole year off after defeating Gonzalez. before scoring an easy 3-round knockout over journeyman Ricardo Espinoza Franco last month. There are plenty of quality competitors at 122 pounds that he could take on, and both Tapales-Akhmadaliev 2 and Akhmadaliev-Luis Nery are certainly intriguing fights. Instead, he was looking at the clock. (which is past its 30th birthday in November)
It was not the most egregious waste of his and our time imaginable. As such, his position is at the bottom of this list, but it is a notable case of character politics exploding performance while a quality fighter was still in his physical prime.
Conwell, a junior middleweight from Cleveland, is the only real prospect in these rankings. And his name appears here because it has been on a prospect’s radar for at least five years. And he remains a prospect who has never faced any competition.
Conwell is 27 and has barely advanced from where he was at 22. He has politely beaten a few highly regarded teammates (Wendy Toussaint, Juan Carlos Rubio, Gerardo Luis Vergara) and a few other pale goalies (Juan Carlos Abregu, Nathaniel Gallimore) and that’s it. It’s time for his handlers to know what they have in store for the 2016 US Olympian.
I’ll say this for Conwell: At least he’s enthusiastic. (Especially in comparison with other boxers in these ratings.) He has three fights in 2024 and in 2025. He wants quality to match quantity.
Dolphin has a question to spit out or simply lose interest in answering: Does he still want to be a boxer?
Aged 36 years with a history of various injuries. And Lomachenko eventually received a plaque from the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lomachenko has made no secrets. So he’s considering retiring.
Unfortunately, he wasted “Tank” Gervonta Davis’ time negotiating a big fight last year. Before deciding that his heart wasn’t in it Loma fought once in 2022, once in 1923 and again in 1924. He was still the pound-for-pound boxer he wanted to be. if he wants to be
There’s a little bit of everything to choose from with lightweight title contenders and pound-for-pound Stevenson. He wasn’t as enthusiastic as we’d like. (One fight in 2024, two fights in each of the past four years) Haven’t fielded an opponent who has stepped up since defeating Oscar. Valdez in April 1922 and resolutely surrendered. Lacking performances on high-profile ESPN cards in his last two appearances.
He’s 27 years old and should have used the last few years to transition into superstar mode. But it turned out to be an ordinary person. and from threatening to retire earlier this year. He was just as frustrated as the fans.
Shakur is scheduled to face Floyd Schofield aboard the Saudi supercar on February 22 – a fight that most observers feel is too soon for the 22-year-old Schofield, but you have to give Schofield credit for daring to be big. Stevenson, meanwhile, dared to time himself. There has been a change for the better after this fight, otherwise fans might lose interest.
6. Janibek Alimkanuli
The undefeated Alimkhanuly is considered the top dog. in the middleweight division That says a lot about the state of the middleweight division, as Alimkhanuly has yet to fight a single attractive opponent.
His best opponents after more than eight years as a professional are England’s top contender Denzel Bentley, the aging Rob Brant or the relatively tough Hassan Endam. Alim Khanuli is 31 years old. I know the 160-pound department isn’t filled with appetizing options. But still At a certain point You admit that your only dessert option is a day-old donut. And you pick the one that looks the least old and you bite into it.
The past year and a half has been tough for Spence. He was eliminated by Terence Crawford on July 29, 2023, and has not fought since. Unless you count the legal battle with his former trainer, Derrick James.
Spence has only fought twice in the last four years. He’s currently unscheduled and will turn 35 on March 3. Little explanation is needed as to why he’s on this list.
The quality of Spence’s defense throughout his career has been admirable — Kell Brook, Mikey Garcia, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, Yordenis. Ugus therefore has no element. “Get off the pot because you’re wasting time in a meaningless fight” in this story, when Spence fights. He challenged himself. But now he didn’t fight at all.
Both the winner and loser of the July 2023 welterweight title showdown in Vegas have been ineffective since then, and for “Bud” Crawford, the lack of production is an ongoing trend. live
2024 was the 5th consecutive calendar year in which he fought only once. You can’t really undermine the quality of his opposition — Israil Madrimov has proven to be legit. And two fights before Spence were Porter — but the inactivity was brutal for a man who, once active, Content is king, pound for pound.
Oh, and Bud is suddenly 37 years old. One day he’ll wake up and not have it anymore. Hopefully he can get the momentum started again in 2025 because since his career-defining win over Spence, It almost stopped completely.
3. Gervonta “Tank” Davis
Lomachenko’s fight falling apart wasn’t Davis’ fault. But no matter how much he fell victim to that incident, His foray into the water went well beyond a disappointing second half of 2024.
Tank, now in his 30s, is enjoying continued progress past the Ryan Garcia megafight in April 2023, but he has only fought once since. And while Frank Martin is a tough opponent. And the same could be said of upcoming foes like Lamont Roach, but it doesn’t exactly set the pulse racing. They fought well. But you can’t help but feel like Davis is slowly moving in the wrong direction.
And of course, no one but Tank can be blamed for his prison sentence that followed by shooting Garcia down.
Davis enters 2025 as a free agent, and as someone with an endless supply of opponents on the market between 130-140 pounds, almost everyone would love to be able to afford the salary that comes with tank fighting. There is no excuse for a fighter with such power to sell and punch to have one power source on standby at this stage in his career.
2. Jeron “Boots” Ennis
We’re now at the point in the countdown where you’ll be met with a lot of fan frustration.
Ennis moves slowly. and struggling to get important fights But stayed on a positive path through his thrilling fight in Atlantic City against Royman Villa in July ’23, but the needle stopped pointing upwards in 1924 without two unsolicited fights against David Avanesyan and Karen Chukhadzhian at times in both competitions Ennis fought as if he didn’t care like the fans.
He could rightly point out that Avanesyan was a late replacement, and Chukhadzhian was a necessity that the letter group unfairly shoved down his throat. But whoever blames us blinks. Boots is suddenly 27 years old, and he hasn’t had more than two fights in any year since 2018.
For a moment he could tell that others were avoiding him. But he lost ground in a way that the controversial Vergil Ortiz Jr. failed to materialize. Public disclosure of Ennis’ negotiations for that fight prevented Boots from wanting it.
If he’s going to be the next big thing in American boxing. As almost everyone believed a few years ago he would be. It’s time to make a statement in 2025.
1. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez
What a shame, the biggest star in sports attracted even more attention last year, which he cannot Fight more than anyone for him. do–
Since losing to Dmitry Bivol in 2022, Alvarez has had five consecutive fights in which he has never lost. (Although some of us would say Jermell Charlo is a ‘living dog): 40-year-old Gennady Golovkin, short John Ryder Charlo, Jamie Mungia and Edgar Berlanga and On the way He has abused the last five Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day weekends.
And he did all of this with one clear and deserving challenger available. Canelo has earned the right to do what he wants after a glittering 19-year professional career, and vice versa. Fighting fans have earned the right to endlessly trash him for blatantly avoiding David Benavidez.
Canelo is still only 34 years old, younger than the other three names. In these rankings And that makes playing it safe especially frustrating. He still has enough tanks left to engage in meaningful battles and have a good chance of defeating them. He opted to do an extended victory lap instead.
Come on, friends, there’s people lined up to sit on that throne. If you don’t do anything, let someone else sit in your place.
Eric Raskin is a boxing journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering the sport for outlets including BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy and The Ring (where he was managing editor for seven years). He also co-hosts The HBO Boxing. Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Theory. He has won three first place writing awards from the BWAA for his work with The Ring, Grantland and HBO. Outside Boxing He is the senior editor of Casino Report and author 2014 money making effect– He can be contacted. X– Blue Skyor Linkedinor via email at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com
