This is true for the first time in 20 years. Everyone knows boxing used to be THE combat sport back in the day. Everyone knows the name Muhammad Ali, not only because he was an exceptional and outspoken athlete, but because he dominated a sport that was, in his time, the universal standard for combat sports excellence.

This was true beyond Ali and I'll bet you've all heard names like Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and Lennox Lewis

How many of you are aware of the Klitschko Brothers?

Unless you happen to follow the sport, I'd be willing to bet you have virtually no awareness of their existence, though they dominated heavyweight boxing for nearly 20 years.

If you've heard of any boxers at all, their names are likely Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather, even though they're lower-weight fighters.

What changed?

How was boxing- and heavyweight boxing in particular- such a celebrated and followed sport throughout Ali and Tyson, only to become supplanted by UFC to my (millennial) generation?

In short; greed.

Basically, boxing promoters used to give audiences the big, earthshaking match-up fights that pitted the best against the best.

Starting around 2000, however, investors and agents figured out that it was more financially viable to play things safe, and reap profits from the sport's heavily invested built-in market, rather than reaching for the exceptional.

For most of my life, boxing lost its appeal because there were so many belts and contenders and champions that none but the most obsessive boxing enthusiasts could make heads or tails of it. But that's just the way investors wanted it. They could reap millions of dollars from the sport's built-in audience without ever promoting a major fight between top competitors. Instead, the sport became a money-prenting factory where the best fighters fought an endless list of easy challengers without ever facing a fellow top-competitor.

And, in the rare case of an interesting match-up, it came at the tail-end of a boxer's career, well past the prime time for a fight, as was the case with Mayweather and Pacquiao.

So the public, understandably, lost interest.

UFC became the combat sport for a new generation because it actually produced interesting match-ups.

Well, in 2018, almost by accident, the sport of boxing stumbled back into relevance.

How?

As fate would have it, British boxer Tyson Fury defeated an aging Wladimir Klitschko (another example of an aging boxer aging out of relevance past his prime and falling). Fury proceeded to fall into a depressive slump of drug addiction and self-destructive behavior for nearly three years in which time he grew fat.

Meanwhile, American champion Deontay Wilder knocked out the last of a long line of inferior challengers with a lethal right swing.

So when Fury's agents talked to Wilder's, for once, both sides agreed to the high-profile matchup. Not because they thought it would be a good fight, but because each party thought their guy would score an easy victory. Fury's agents assumed Wilder was a low-skill blunt instrument who could never defeat an actual skilled fighter. Wilder's agents assumed Fury was a derailed, out-of-shape chump who hadn't thrown a punch in years.

So, for once, 2018 saw a high profile heavyweight match-up between two actual, real heavyweight contenders, as opposed to the usual phony, one-sided contests. Again, this happened despite financial interests, not because of them.

But then, amazingly, against all expectations, Fury v Wilder I became the most awe-inspiring bout in years. Wilder proved a true and formidable champion. Fury proved a skilled a tenacious competitor. For once, audiences got a taste of the glory that was once BOXING as two immortal combatants traded blows in a demonstration of wildly conflicting styles and techniques.

It was glorious.

But, better yet, the fight's sheer awesomeness left judges divided and they handed back a draw by decision. This was the best possible outcome, because it assured a rematch.

That rematch came two years later and Fury dominated. A final fight followed shortly thereafter wherein Wilder gave Fury all he could handle, putting him on the floor twice, only to see the Brit rise each time and pull out a hard-fought victory.

The Fury-Wilder Trilogy was easily the best thing to happen to boxing in decades. Even though it happened virtually by accident.

Better yet, however, it tore the sport wide open.

Fury v Wilder raised the bar for all aspiring heavyweight competitors. Consequently, the sport has seen a return to high-profile bouts as top contenders take greater risks to stay relevant.

In this turn of events, we all win. Because boxing is fun again.

Anyway, if you're like me and spent most of your life thinking boxing was a dead sport, check it out. Because boxing is fun and exciting again. Take it in before things return to the mundane, safe status quo.