Boxing smack talk is typically looked at as a necessary evil to sell fights – but 2017 is appearing to dispel that notion.

Boxing smack talk has been a long standing part of the fight business. Perhaps first created by the great Muhammad Ali.

He always did with a bit of a twinkle in his eye and with a bit of fun though. Never usually accompanied by any malice.

The boxing smack talk of today’s times can often take on a more pantomime feel. Press conference chairs and tables flying, punches thrown and threats against people’s lives made.

Boxing is the hype business from a professional perspective, for sure.

However, 2017 already is showing that the sport can once again capture people’s imaginations by simply putting on the fights fans want to see on a regular basis.

Modern day boxing promoters appear to have awoken to this fact too. Thankfully. The sport looks to be growing once again around the world at the moment.

Fights like Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko and more recently, Kell Brook vs Errol Spence Jr, show that boxing smack talk isn’t always needed to generate big numbers either.

Okay, there might have been a tiny bit of smack talk between Brook and Spence. But for the most part it was banter between the two fighters – who paid respect to one another straight after the fight.

Although the pay per view numbers are not out yet, the fight was a near sellout at an outdoor soccer stadium in Sheffield and was received very well online.

Joshua and Klitschko for their part were pretty friendly throughout the build-up to their bout. Not a bad work spoken between them.

The fight did 1.2 million pay per view buys in the UK alone.

Boxing smack talk while entertaining in doses, masks the true tact that when it really comes down to it, boxing fans whether casual or hardcore – just want to see the best fight the best above all else.