Every dog has his day. Boxing’s is back now and is only going to be more so in the time ahead this year.
The sport is in a great place and has always been a big sport internationally worldwide.
It is back in the US now and in the UK as well even back on BBC, with huge major corporations like DAZN, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Paramount Plus, Sky Sports and more all in boxing.
ESPN Fight Nights show boxing again in America and ESPN Deportes across Latin America as well.
These facts will never change and the sport will only thrive further without some snake oil salesmen and others in it leaving boxing daily all the time in live time.
As new governments and big companies worldwide continue to roll into professional boxing — as the sport takes off more in the East as well.
Boxing is the most difficult sport of all but professional boxing also has great rewards because of this.
ESPN, the world’s biggest sports media company on Earth by far, voted boxing as the most difficult of them per their new rankings.
But not many realize this — so we thought this was important to highlight for new fans to the sport.
During all the new successes the sport continues to enjoy at the moment.
Here are 10 key facts about ESPN’s ranking/voting on boxing as the hardest/toughest sport (based on their “Ultimate Degree of Difficulty”:
- ESPN ranked 60 sports by degree of difficulty using 10 criteria: endurance, strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, nerve, durability, hand-eye coordination, and analytic aptitude.
- Boxing topped the list as the #1 toughest sport overall, with a total score of 72.375 out of a possible 100.It was determined by a panel of ESPN experts/panelists who scored each sport on the 10 factors.
- Boxing scored highest in categories like nerve (8.88), durability (8.50), endurance (8.63), and strength (8.13).Ice Hockey came in 2nd with 71.750, followed by American Football (3rd), Basketball (4th), and Wrestling (5th).
- This ESPN ranking (often called a “vote” or “poll” in social media) has been widely shared and referenced recently on platforms like X, Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit.
- The original ESPN Page 2 grid and conclusion declared boxing “pound for pound, the toughest sport in the world.”
- Boxing outscored team sports and others due to its demands on individual physical/mental toughness, with no hiding from direct confrontation.
- While the core ranking dates back to the mid-2000s (with ongoing circulation), recent viral posts (2025–2026) call it ESPN’s “new rankings” or “voted” as hardest.
- Least demanding sports per the same list included fishing (#60), billiards, shooting, and bowling at the bottom.
Ice hockey, American football, basketball and wrestling came in at number 2 to 5 afterwards.
Let thank sink in.
This comes amid all the big news for the sport in boxing worldwide at the moment.
The fact boxing is doing as well as it is despite being the toughest sport of them all, tells you the very special people involved in boxing.
The fighters and all appropriate people concerned.
