Eddie Hearn; one of the leading boxing promoters in the world, welcomes Dana White of mixed martial arts to the boxing world. Early this week, White confirmed the boxing partnership with Turki Al-Sheikh under the TKO banner.
UFC president White long wanted to make an impact in boxing. He had told me many times that boxing needs a structure like UFC.
Boxing is a traditional sport, where the skill of a fighter can make any promoter become a star. However, UFC is a very professional business.
Hearn said: I don’t get the feeling it’s like the big-name fighters. I think maybe they’ll be looking at a lower level to sort of elevate and make those guys stars. Like future stars, because I feel like they won’t want to be in the business of negotiating purse by purse with managers and lawyers and promoters within boxing… I don’t know if it works, if I’m honest. But these guys are very smart, very powerful, and they have a great platform, so you wouldn’t bet against them.
In the last one to two years, Turki Al-Sheikh has made some of the best fights happen in boxing with promoters working together very well. The boxing world feels that Dana, along with Saudi money, can make boxing a sport that works like UFC after four to five years.
However, the rules of boxing are such that fighters are protected by the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 1982, where the fighters can fight against many bad practices.
This is just one problem as there are many thighs to solve in boxing first. White did say that they are going to invest in young talents in a league system. So it might take them time to beat major boxing promoters.
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