TKO Holdings Enters Boxing with a Bold New League
Having already made a massive impact in MMA with the UFC and in professional wrestling with WWE, TKO Holdings is now making a significant move into the world of boxing. Backed by Saudi Arabia and The Ring, the company recently announced the launch of a new boxing league that aims to revolutionize the sport. Unlike traditional boxing organizations, this league intends to bypass the existing sanctioning bodies and their multiple championship belts, which have often been criticized for creating confusion among fans and fighters alike.
Dana White’s Vision for Boxing
UFC President Dana White, who will oversee the day-to-day operations of the new league, has made it clear that his organization will not work with the traditional boxing sanctioning bodies. White has long been vocal about his disdain for the fragmented nature of boxing, where multiple champions exist in the same weight class due to various governing organizations. Instead, he wants a system where there is only one champion per division, similar to the UFC’s model.
Royal Advisor His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, a key figure in Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in combat sports, has backed White’s approach. He believes that their partnership will disrupt and surpass other boxing promotional companies, changing the way the sport is structured and managed.
Potential Legal Challenges
While White’s intentions may seem revolutionary, his approach may run into significant legal obstacles. Veteran boxing journalist Dan Rafael pointed out during the Fight Freaks Unite podcast that avoiding sanctioning bodies could be a direct violation of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.
The Muhammad Ali Act, enacted in 2000, was designed to protect professional boxers from exploitation and to ensure greater transparency in contract negotiations. A major aspect of the Act is that it regulates sanctioning bodies, which are responsible for fighter rankings and title fights. While many critics argue that these organizations are rife with favoritism and politics, they still hold significant power under the law.
When confronted with this issue, White did not seem overly concerned. “Yeah, we gotta figure that out,” he responded. “I am not interested in working with sanctioning bodies. I have no interest whatsoever.” However, he did acknowledge that Turki Alalshikh may continue to engage with the existing boxing organizations. As for the new league White is building, he remains firm in his decision to operate without them.
Can Dana White’s Model Work for Boxing?
White’s claim that boxing is “broken” has been met with strong disagreement from figures within the sport, including Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn. While Hearn welcomes the new league as a positive addition to boxing, he refutes the idea that the sport itself is in a bad state.
“I think it’s great for boxing. One thing I disagree with is boxing’s not broken,” Hearn said. “Boxing is in a great place, it always has been. There are always ways we can improve it, but the fact those guys want to come into boxing shows where it’s at.”
Hearn also expressed skepticism about applying the UFC’s model to boxing, noting that fighters in MMA operate under a different system where promotions have full control over matchmaking and fighter contracts. “Dana has a great spot [in MMA] where you can control the fighter, the commercial, everything. You have to do what you’re told,” Hearn explained. “That’s not really going to work in boxing. Also, fighters are drastically overpaid in boxing, and the margins in MMA are different, so it’s going to be interesting.”
A Workaround for the Muhammad Ali Act?
Mark Shapiro, president of TKO Holdings, has also taken issue with the Muhammad Ali Act, which limits how long a boxer can be signed to a promotional company and dictates the terms of contracts. As White and his team push forward with their new league, they