By Louis Yeboah: As well as being a sport, boxing has also become a multi million pound business. Nowadays, boxer’s careers’ are being more and more meticulously planned than ever. Is this bad for the fans? Many boxers claim to be the best but are however still involved in non-challenging bouts.

An example of this is Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) who is one of the greatest boxers ever. The only person who boxing fans want to see him step into the ring with is Manny Paquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s). If both fighters keep winning, which is more than likely, and face each other on their last pro fights their purse will be considerably high compared to if they were to fight in 2010 or 2011. Is this the reason why they have yet to fight?

Kell Brook (27-0, 18 KO’s) and Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KO’s) have an on going rivalry but it is unlikely that both will step into the ring with each other anytime soon. After their bouts against Matthew Hatton (42-6-2, 16 KO’s) and Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) respectively, providing Amir Khan wins, many fans hope that that should be their next fight. However I doubt very much that this will take place in the near future as their pay cheques will increase if they were to fight in 2013 or 2014, providing that they both keep winning.

However a loss for these boxers nowadays will have adverse effects on their career meaning they have to rebuild it all over again, which takes time and also makes boxers lose out on making alot of money. I believe this is the main reason why many boxers and their management teams do not want to fight each other. As Floyd says “…being a boxer is like being a cop, one shot can end your career…” which is so true. Boxing is a job as well as a sport, all these boxers have families to feed, bills to pay and expenses. And a boxing match up which makes boxing sense does not always make business sense.

Everyone also wants to see Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1, 31 KO’s) and Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KO’s) step into the ring together, likewise with David Price (12-0, 10 KO’s) and Tyson Fury (17-0, 12 KO’s). But the loser will have to rebuild their career and will also lose a considerable amount in future bouts.

So the question is what can be done to ensure that the boxing fans receive the best fights possible?
Like the days of Hagler-Hearns, Tyson-Holyfield or Benn-Eubank. Is boxing too political nowadays for us to receive the same calibre of fights as the 80s and 90s.