The sport of boxing was on fire in 2024. Four fighters earned undisputed status, including Artur Beterbiev at light heavyweight and Oleksandr Usyk at heavyweight.
Those new champions also meant we got to see some long-awaited showdowns like Usyk vs. Tyson Fury (twice) and Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol (which will see its second matchup in February). There was also the incredible spectacle that was Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson.
While last year did see some chaos, much of it was fairly predictable. But the new year could see some massive changes at the top of the sport.
With that in mind, our experts took a shot at some predictions for what we could see happen in the new year.
Amanda Serrano finds brutal closure to Katie Taylor rivalry
After two bitterly close defeats in what can only be called the two biggest bouts in women’s boxing history, there’s little question Serrano will have plenty of motivation to deliver the boom in their inevitable trilogy. Ideally, that fight would take place in 2025 on Taylor’s home soil of Ireland in Dublin’s historic Croke Park. But as long as the two living legends finally agree to eschew the past and get with the future by adopting the men’s boxing format of 12 three-minute rounds (which has been long overdue at the elite level of the women’s game), the possibility of a Serrano finish only increases given that she’s the bigger puncher. Taylor’s spamming style of aggressive boxing saw her get the edge by split decision in their first meeting in 2022 as the headliner at New York’s Madison Square Garden despite the fact that Serrano appeared to land the bigger punches.
Serrano was forced to settle for second best again in November when their big-money rematch, which was watched by a record number of homes on Netflix as the co-main event to Jake Paul-Mike Tyson, ended in controversy due to a Taylor unanimous decision amid the cry of foul play by Serrano’s team after a series of Taylor head butts that opened cuts. Although both fights were extremely close, Serrano ended up the hard-luck loser in both. There’s too much money in their rivalry for there not to be a third fight, especially considering the contentious nature of the scorecards after 20 combined rounds. In some ways, a comparison of their rivalry could be made to that of Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez after Pacquaio took home two disputed wins and a draw in their first three fights, all of which Marquez felt he won. In their fourth and deciding showdown in 2012, Marquez delivered violent closure by knocking Pacquiao out cold to finally get his hand raised. Given Taylor’s age — she will be 39 in July — the 36-year-old Serrano might look to change her strategy altogether and go for the finish from the opening bell by setting an even crazier pace than the one the two fought at in November. And if she’s given three minutes of each round to do so, the likelihood of a Serrano finish — even on Irish soil — only increases for the seven-division champion, who moved up three weight divisions to face Taylor in their rematch. — Brian Campbell
Fresh faces invade the pound-for-pound ranks
The average age of the top five fighters in the CBS Sports Pound-For-Pound Rankings is 35.6. The average age of the fighters in spots six through 10? 28.6.
There are talented young fighters quickly making their name in the sport while the elite of the elite are creeping toward retirement. 2025 feels like a year where the up-and-comers start to grab those top spots while other youngsters join them on the list. Terence Crawford holds the No. 3 spot, but the 37-year-old didn’t look like his old self after moving up from welterweight and a loss in 2025 doesn’t feel entirely out of the question. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez sits at No. 8 with an exciting future ahead of him, No. 7 Gervonta Davis is seen as arguably the sport’s biggest star at age 30 and unranked Junto Nakatani is on the rise at age 26. 2025 feels like the year where we see significant movement upward from these rising young fighters as the year closes with the pound-for-pound list looking very different. — Brent Brookhouse
Naoya Inoue moves up and conquers featherweight
My colleague Brent Brookhouse actually picked this last year, and while it didn’t happen then, it makes sense for it to take place in 2025. Inoue has won multiple boxing world championships in four divisions. “The Monster” has primarily fought at junior featherweight (122 pounds) over the past few years. He was successful in his conquest to become the only undisputed super bantamweight champion and one of three two-division undisputed champs of the four-belt era.
A planned title defense against Sam Goodman was pushed from Christmas Eve to Jan. 24. If Inoue is successful in his third title defense, don’t be surprised to see him set new goals. I anticipate Inoue will make the four-pound jump up and the easiest path would be a fight against WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza, both of whom are promoted by Top Rank.
Inoue — who won titles at junior flyweight, junior bantamweight, bantamweight and junior featherweight — would join a Hall of Fame lineup by winning his fifth weight class title. Inoue would become one of only six quintuple male boxing champions alongside Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquaio. — Shakiel Mahjouri
