Back to the Streets: Should Boxing Embrace Non-Traditional Venues Again?
By Billie Sloane, IFL TV
Boxing is a sport that thrives on spectacle. It’s always been about more than just punches—it’s about moments, settings, atmosphere. And lately, it seems the ring is being lifted out of the usual arenas and dropped back into places that feel bold, unconventional, even rebellious.
Case in point: Times Square, May 2nd, 2025.
Yes, you read that right. Ring Magazine threw a major event in the heart of Manhattan, with names like Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney featuring in what was one of the most cinematic fight night of the year. No undercards in dimly lit casinos. No plastic seats in a sports complex. This is boxing, outside, in the open, on one of the most iconic intersections on Earth.
The moment feels less like a step forward and more like a full-circle revival of boxing’s roots. Because long before the glitz of Las Vegas and the sanctioning body politics, this sport was forged in basements, prison yards, piers, and public squares.
So the question is—should boxing keep leaning into these non-traditional venues? Or are the risks and logistical headaches just too much to justify the nostalgia?
When the Venue Becomes the Main Event
There’s something undeniably magnetic about seeing a ring in a place it doesn’t belong.
Think of Ali vs. Norton in Yankee Stadium, or Foreman vs. Frazier in Jamaica. Think of the prison bouts from the early 1900s, or more recently, fights hosted in remote locations for viral value. Even modern stadium brawls—like Joshua-Klitschko at Wembley—prove the power of setting.
These venues transform boxing from sport to cinema. The noise hits different. The atmosphere changes. The line between crowd and fighter feels thinner.
Times Square, with its flashing billboards and relentless energy, is made for that kind of moment. It’ll attract fight fans and curious onlookers alike. It’s the kind of stage that makes a win feel legendary—and a loss unforgettable.
And maybe that’s exactly what boxing needs right now.
But Is It Worth the Chaos?
Of course, there’s a reason most fights are still held in well-regulated, climate-controlled arenas.
Outdoor and unconventional venues come with serious logistical headaches. Weather, sound, lighting, crowd control—it’s a promoter’s nightmare if anything goes wrong.
And then there’s the issue of safety. Boxing needs stability, especially in an age where fighter welfare is rightly under scrutiny. Can you guarantee that in an open public venue like Times Square? Can you protect fighters, trainers, judges, and spectators when the environment is unpredictable?
And let’s be real—some of these novelty venues aren’t chosen for history or atmosphere. They’re picked for views. For virality. For that all-important “moment” on social media. But does that serve the sport long-term, or just feed the content machine?
A Risk Worth Taking?
It depends on what kind of boxing world we want to build.
If the sport wants to grow, to reach new audiences, it needs to break the mould. Fight nights that feel different get people talking. Times Square won’t just host a fight—it’ll host a moment. And boxing, more than most sports, lives and dies by its moments.
But the execution has to be tight. This can’t just be style over substance. The fights have to deliver. The event must feel premium, not chaotic. The venue should elevate the experience, not distract from it.
Because when it works? It’s magic.
But when it fails? It’s just another gimmick.
Matchroom HQ during lockdown
So, Should Boxing Keep Going Off Script?
If done right, yes.
Not every fight belongs in a soulless arena or a casino ballroom. Not every event has to look the same. Boxing, at its best, is part theatre, part war—and the venue should reflect that.
Times Square is a gamble. But it’s one worth watching.
Because maybe, just maybe, the future of boxing doesn’t lie in building new arenas.
Maybe it lies in reclaiming old ones—in parks, on rooftops, in streets. In bringing the fight back to the people.
The only question left is: when the bell rings in Times Square, will the world stop and watch—or just scroll past?