British boxing's year has been both glorious and ridiculous, but 2017 brings cause for hope

This year, one world title defence by a British boxer involved a challenger who was 80-1 against to win. That is simply not sport.

Frampton was Britain's best by some distance this year (Getty)

There are seventeen recognised weight categories in the world of boxing and Britain currently has 13 world champions in 11 of the weights. It is both glorious and ridiculous.

All 13 of the champions are good fighters, which they should be, and equally they have all benefitted from a bloated business where boxers with slim qualities are selected as world title challengers; British boxers have fought for and won world titles without proving they are the best in Britain and that is something that started 25 years ago: Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank were only ever 2nd and 3rd to Herol Graham between 1990 and about 1995.

In 2016 a few of Britain’s best walked a bit higher, losing to the sports true elite in fights where the gap between our world champions and the very best left behind the usual unasked questions. A trio of the finest British boxers fell in heaps with broken bones and later, with stitches holding cuts closed, they talked boldly of learning from their defeats. They should all be applauded for taking the risks.

Many others met anonymous challengers, too many to tell the truth, arrived and were clipped with punches in easy stoppage wins. The boxing business is often dependent on foundations that are at best flimsy and often quite shallow. It is nothing new, trust me, and abuse of the rankings has always been a trivial pursuit of promoters and the men that govern the alphabet organisations that sanction fights.

There was one defence this year by a British boxer of his world title and the challenger was 80-1 against to win and that is simply not sport. Most of Britain’s leading contenders for titles are kept busy with fights where the selected victim is priced at 100-1. It is impossible to build a fighter with mismatches, but it is essential to build a brand with mismatches; one is sport, one is business.

Kell Brook, Amir Khan and Liam Smith all took the type of risks that made boxers famous in the Seventies. Khan and Smith lost to Saul Canelo Alvarez in world title fights and Brook was heroic losing to Gennady Golovkin at the O2 in September. They were underdogs, but not 80-1 fodder, and their sacrifice shames too many in a business that has grown increasingly shameless.

All three of the men, all nice guys, that were blasted by Anthony Joshua in world heavyweight title fights in front of sold-out delirious audiences – tickets on Stubhub sixty seconds after open sale – entered the ring without a chance. Not a hope, but that is the heavyweight business and the dozen boxers that were on the list to fight Joshua were never a realistic option. It was brilliant business and not one extra seat would have been sold if Joseph Parker, Kubrat Pulev or Luis Ortiz had been in the opposite corner. There might not have been three fights, three quick blowouts, if Parker, Pulev or Ortiz had been selected. Still, 90,000 will be there to support Joshua against Wladimir Klitschko next April.

There is a chance that some of the 13 world champions will meet each other and that hopefully some of the protected contenders get a real fight or two and are not fed any more bums. Carl Frampton was the best British fighter in 2016 by a long, long way. His win over Scott Quigg on an emotional night in Manchester and his defeat of the previously unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz in America are outstanding wins; the pair of wins would travel well in any epoch. There is no denying the raw emotion of Tony Bellew’s big night and the fairy tale substance of his Goodison Park triumph to win the world title. Terry Flanagan is possibly the best lightweight in the world, Lee Selby is probably the second-best featherweight in the world behind Frampton.

They also have domestic rivals. James DeGale at super-middleweight is arguably the best at his weight and can fight George Groves. Billy Joe Saunders is probably number two behind Golovkin and has been continually frustrated by the refusal of Chris Eubank, the dad, to make available, Chris Eubank, the son, for another fight. These are high positions, rare slots to be filled by so many British boxers. However, please don’t expect purists to celebrate the mayhem of credibility which exists whenever the British world champions gather for a roll call. There was an old expression in boxing and I can’t remember the last time I heard it. It goes: “Who’s he fought?” It is, in 2016 and 2017, close to impossible to answer.

Frampton came closest this year and Tyson Fury answered it perfectly last year when he stood poor Wladimir on his head. Frampton will do it again in the New Year and hopefully Fury will be back. I have never felt so hopeful about a new year – the domestic scene is stunning at the moment - and at the same time so hopeless about its plastic nature.