2. Opponents Rarely Have Personal History
One of the ideas established over the years of the sports drama genre is that the biggest fights are all personal grudge matches. In actuality, this is an incredibly dumb movie trope, and isn’t something that often occurs. Naturally, fighters get to know one another on occasion, and sometimes later fight, but there’s rarely a rich or painful bond between two fighters ahead of their meeting in the ring.
Boxing movies don’t seem to care too much, though. It seems as though every other big fight in boxing movies takes place between fighters with a personal history, often leading to heightened animosity. The truth is, in the real world, it wouldn’t be too good for business.
The more fighters know each other, the more emotion comes into play. Emotional fighters aren’t smart fighters, and only smart fighters can execute minutely-crafted fight plans. There’s little room for personal stakes in the science of boxing, and this trope is thankfully just used for dramatic flair rather than having much real-life credence.