BOXING CLEVER COLUMN: UFC president Dana White is teaming up with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh to launch a new boxing league that could change the face of the sport
Boxing should be wary of allowing Dana White’s influence within the sport to grow.
This week it was announced that the UFC supremo has, along with UFC parent company TKO, partnered up with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh and SELA, the entertainment company from the Middle East country. They’re plotting a boxing league. They want to sign up young talent and ensure there is one champion in each division they pick for the event.
It sounds promising in some ways. That is what Whyte did with UFC but boxing is not MMA. Boxing should never be a closed shop like the UFC.
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The exact details of their plans remain unknown. The announcement brought speculation that the sport could change forever. It was claimed – not by anyone involved yet – that the sanctioning bodies – WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF – would be obsolete soon enough.
It has led to further talk that the traditional promoters – the likes of Frank Warren, Eddie Hearn, Bob Arum and Oscar de la Hoya – may soon be left out in the cold. Boxing Clever understands both of those are not to be the case. For now at least.
But while White has had undeniable success with UFC by having all the best MMA fighters under one umbrella, that model will struggle to work in boxing. Boxing is no doubt a mess, the wild west of sport, and needs a proper international governing body to ensure the sport is regulated properly on particular matters such as drug testing.
But a closed shop where you have to be signed up under one body or you can’t fight for the title? That’s not going to work in a sport so convoluted. Boxing should also be wary of the UFC’s ways.
Not so long ago they agreed a settlement worth £281m with a group of former fighters. The claim was that the UFC’s contracts suppressed athletes’ abilities to negotiate other promotional options.
Alalshikh has brought a lot of good to the sport recently. Money has flooded in, big fights have happened that never would have before and fighters have been handsomely paid in a sport which is so dangerous.
Yet questions about whether White has the interest of the sport at heart must be asked. This is a man who so often claimed the sweet science was dead. He promotes Powerslap, a vile event which allows contestants to have a free open-handed shot at their opponent which leads to hard-to-stomach knockouts.
Boxing so often has to fight its corner in this country at least with those who believe because of the dangers it should not be allowed. Whether this TKO venture – with WWE president Nick Khan – becomes a success remains to be seen but boxing should be wary of White until he proves that he cares about this sport.