UFC president Dana White is significantly expanding his involvement in boxing, making a major impact on the sport.
In a recent announcement, it was revealed that the head of the leading MMA organization is collaborating with Turki Alalshikh to introduce a new boxing promotion.
Turki Alalshikh, who chairs Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, has become a central figure in boxing, orchestrating numerous high-profile events in the past year and a half.
Notably, under his Riyadh Season initiative, Alalshikh has been instrumental in staging the two significant heavyweight clashes between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.
Now, Alalshikh and White are joining forces to reshape the boxing landscape, potentially diminishing the influence of the major boxing sanctioning bodies.
In UFC, Dana White has fostered a system where most fighters have an equal opportunity to advance in the rankings.
However, in boxing, a fighter’s path to the top is largely controlled by organizations like the WBC, IBF, WBO, and WBA.
Aiming to simplify this system, White has suggested that the future of boxing may involve one unified title per weight division instead of the current multiple belts.
“There’s zero speculation on the format,” White stated to The Ring. “The best fight the best – you work your way up the rankings, and when you reach the top five, it’s clear who the best in each weight class are.”
“Once someone holds that belt, you don’t need multiple titles. The holder of that belt is unequivocally the best in the world in that division. It’s a straightforward concept.”
Given Alalshikh’s acquisition of Ring Magazine, it appears the belt White refers to is indeed the Ring Magazine title.
The business agreement between Alalshikh and White also involves TKO, the parent company of UFC and WWE, and Sela, a major Saudi entertainment and hospitality company.
The implications of this new partnership for other key players in boxing are still unfolding, but it seems Alalshikh and White are embarking on creating a revolutionary boxing league.
