Boxing’s full of old-school wisdom. Keep your hands up. Protect yourself at all times. And if you’re not injured? Stay active. But in 2025, that last one’s started to wear thin. Because staying busy used to mean taking real fights — now, it often means padding your record, dodging risk, and boring the life out of fans.
Let’s be honest: the stay busy fights boxing trend isn’t about sharpening tools anymore. It’s about time-filling. Avoiding danger. And in some cases, stalling for a payday that might never come.
Ring rust is real — but so is risk aversion
Nobody’s saying fighters should sit around for nine months doing nothing. Ring rust is real. You only had to watch Leigh Wood’s punishing loss in Nottingham to see how cruel a comeback can be when timing and sharpness are off. He looked hesitant, slow to react — a shadow of his former self. His corner knew it too, throwing in the towel before it got even worse.
But that doesn’t mean every layoff needs solving with a glorified sparring match in front of paying fans. Not when half the division is doing the same thing. Not when the audience has stopped buying into it.
Fights should mean something. Whether it’s a domestic dust-up or a world title eliminator, there has to be jeopardy. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Golovkin stayed active — and dangerous
When people talk about busy champions done right, they usually mention Gennady Golovkin. And rightly so. He fought often, sure — but more importantly, he fought with purpose. Even his so-called easier nights had some bite. When he fought Gabriel Rosado in 2013, it wasn’t just about keeping sharp — it was about making a statement. Same goes for when he demolished Matthew Macklin in three brutal rounds. These weren’t placeholders. They were momentum builders.
He made activity part of the story — not an excuse.
Canelo’s calculated calendar
Canelo Alvarez is another example. Yes, he’s had the odd soft touch — everyone remembers the Avni Yildirim mismatch. But even that was sandwiched between fights that mattered. He followed it by unifying against Billy Joe Saunders, then Caleb Plant. The busy fights weren’t the problem — it was that he didn’t stop there. He used them to launch something bigger.
Compare that to some current world champions who fight once a year, against someone their own promoter dug up from the depths of the rankings, and then disappear for another 12 months. There’s no rhythm. No excitement. Just a dead zone between fight nights.
The Joshua dilemma
Then there’s Anthony Joshua — a cautionary tale if ever there was one. Injuries have clearly slowed him down, and his last real test was a narrow points win over Otto Wallin. But since then? Radio silence. He was supposed to fight again in spring 2025, then summer… now it’s looking more like a farewell in the autumn — if it happens.
A stay busy fight might have helped him regain some momentum post-Dubois loss, but only if it meant something. Beating a journeyman in two rounds wouldn’t have made fans believe again — it would’ve just underlined the gap between what he was, and what he is now.
Fans deserve better
Here’s the thing: boxing fans aren’t stupid. They can spot a mismatch a mile off. They know when a record’s being padded. And more importantly, they know when they’re being sold a placeholder, dressed up as a comeback.
This is a sport built on risk, legacy, and spectacle. And when the stakes are low, the excitement disappears. It’s why packed cards in places like Belfast and Cardiff still draw interest — they give fans meaningful scraps, not filler. And it’s why so many stay busy bouts quietly disappear into the ether, barely noticed by anyone outside the fighter’s hometown.
Is it time to scrap the stay busy model?
Not completely — activity still has a place. But it has to mean something again. A new weight class. A comeback with consequences. A risky test that proves something. Otherwise, all we’re doing is wasting time — and time is something no fighter has to spare.
In a year where champions are fighting less, contenders are treading water, and promotional politics are slowing everything down, boxing can’t afford to throw away any fight night.
What do you think?
Are stay busy fights keeping boxers sharp — or just slowing the sport down? Let us know in the comments, share this blog with your fellow fans, and head over to CMBoxing.co.uk for more opinion pieces, analysis, and boxing talk that pulls no punches.