FORMER world lightweight champion Anthony Crolla believes British boxing is facing a “major” crisis.
Since retiring in November 2019, Crolla has remained heavily involved in the sport, particularly through his gym in Oldham, where he trains a number of fighters.
Now 38, Crolla enjoyed a 13-year ring career that included British and world title success. The popular Mancunian headlined shows at Manchester Arena, faced top competitors like Jorge Linares, and even travelled to Los Angeles to take on boxing phenom Vasyl Lomachenko.
Speaking to One on One Boxing, Crolla highlighted how Britain’s small-hall circuit and nationwide schedule are being affected by lucrative overseas offers.
“For me, British boxing is in a major crisis. The small hall shows have been absolutely murdered. And not just that, the amount of UK shows we’re seeing – they’ve been cut in half. It’s probably less. We used to get a few shows every month on a platform. Nearly everything’s on DAZN.”
With Sky Sports and TNT Sports no longer broadcasting professional boxing shows, promotions like Boxxer – once with Sky – have now teamed up with the BBC, while Queensberry Promotions – once with TNT – have joined Matchroom at DAZN. Crolla argues that there aren’t as many dates as there once were, forcing some fighters to look for opportunities elsewhere.
“You’re seeing a lot of good prospects on the smaller shows which I do also think is very good. However, that wouldn’t have happened at one time – they’d have fights scheduled.”
One ongoing criticism of Saudi Arabia’s influence on major boxing events is the number of fights that could serve as main events themselves, particularly in the UK. For example, Peter McGrail vs Rhys Edwards, Johnny Fisher vs Dave Allen I, Lee McGregor vs Isaac Lowe, and Moses Itauma vs Demsey McKean all appeared on the Usyk-Fury 2 undercard last December. On the undercard of their first clash, Joe Cordina fought Anthony Cacace. Other recent examples from Saudi Arabia include the August 2024 Fabio Wardley-Frazer Clarke rematch and the first bout between Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron – both of which featured on the first undisputed light-heavyweight title bout between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
“You’re seeing five brilliant fights coming from Saudi, but what you’re also seeing there are five headliners, which could potentially be five big UK shows,” Crolla said.
Crolla also paid tribute to promoters such as Black Flash, Steve Wood, and Kevin Maree, who run cards on far smaller budgets than Saudi-backed events.
“They’re putting shows on as much as they can to get the lads out but it’s hard. Those lads have to sell tickets and that’s the business. A lot of the time the promoter doesn’t make anything. That’s just the truth. They’re relying on sponsors and stuff like, but they’re doing it to get the lads out.”
