Dana White’s plans to “fix” boxing are finally beginning to take shape.
For years, White declares boxing is broken, and he says that the sport is “too broken” and that he intends to save sweet science from itself, just to pull back his own attempts. However, there is a renewed interest in moving into boxing space via TKO, and his relationship with Turki Alalshikh is now firmly invested in Zuffa Boxing’s advances.
It all starts this weekend as White will be running on Saturday and airing live on Netflix and will help promote Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford Superfight. Candidate Series This will serve as a feeder system for Turki Alalshikh’s bigger boxing promotion.
“Essentially, I’m going to start a show in 2026. What I’m trying to do is basically Candidate SeriesWhite told Vegas PBS. So I make stars, I fight great fights, and these guys graduate and fight Sheikh Turki. ”
In White’s case, the ultimate goal is to turn boxing into something similar to the UFC: a unified combat sports league.
“What we did with the UFC is to turn the UFC into the NFL, the NBA,” White said. “There’s a league, you reinvest in sports. Others want to invest in sports, whether it’s a sponsor or one of these financial companies. That’s what boxing needs.
“Listen, when you talk about getting into boxing and trying to “fix,” there’s no ego or arrogance. This is a busted sport. ”
It’s no one’s guess whether White will succeed. One of the biggest blockers of White’s boxing transition is the Muhammad Aliboxing Reform Act, which regulates promoters from certain anti-competitive business practices, and importantly, that promoters can control titles and rankings and limit financial transparency. The UFC and parent company TKO are requesting an amendment called the “Ali Revival Act” that rolls back some of these regulations. The initiative hit Tuesday when the California athletics committee retracted its planned support for the bill following a massive backlash at a public meeting on the issue.
If the bill doesn’t pass in the end, White may find it more difficult to compete with more firmly established boxing promoters like Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren, but the UFC CEO says he’s ready to do that in the coming years.
“There will be 60-70 fighters on the contract right now,” White said. “I think the great thing about that is that there are a lot of options. Eddie Hearn is a great promoter. He’s very successful and in my opinion he’s a very nice guy. I love him so much. You leave Frank Warren in the UK and you’re very successful.
“I compete with the NFL, I compete with the NBA, I compete with the big film studios. Anything I pay attention to on Saturday nights is my competition. So when I enter boxing, it’s a completely different world from MMA. I’m 26 years old (boxing) and my first year.
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