Dana White Explains His Role in Saudi Boxing: “Sheikh Turki is Running Boxing Now I’m Running the Business for Them”
Dana White and Turki Alalshikh have taken the boxing world by surprise. The partnership between TKO, the UFC parent company, and Turki Alalshik has joined forces to create a new boxing promotion that seeks to clean up the boxing world. They are looking to create a unified boxing world where there is only one world title per division in protest of the current boxing landscape.
As seen above, one must have every major world title in boxing to become the undisputed champion of that division, so there are four belts. The IBF, WBC, WBA, and WBO. The IBO and Ring magazine belt are not necessary to have undisputed status, however that title often award to those who become undisputed in their divisions.
So Dana White, Turkey, and the brass of TKO are looking to attempt to revolutionize the boxing world. However, at the UFC 313 post-press conference, Dana White was asked about the details of his relationship with Turki, and he revealed that he would be the one running the behind-the-scenes business dealings due to his experience in combat sports promotion.
“I would say yes—Sheikh Turki and Saudi Arabia are the dominant players in boxing right now. Basically, I’m going to run and manage the business for them. This is not an easy business to be in. You guys have seen over the many years that I’ve been doing this—lots of people have tried to get into this sport and the fight business.”
“The fight business looks like a fun industry until you actually start spending money and getting involved. I think Sheikh Turki and his team quickly realized it’s a lot tougher than it seems. They came to me to work out a deal where we run the business.“
Dana White’s not-so-new frontier in boxing.
Despite being an open critic of how boxing is run at times, especially against the likes of boxing legend and promoter Oscar De La Hoya, Dana White himself has already dipped his toes in the boxing world. His current project is building up Irish Fighter Callum Walsh and even hosting some lesser boxing promotions on UFC Fight Pass.
However, Dana White is still a fight promoter at heart, and the ability to work with a man like Turki Alalshikh, who has been making big improvements to boxing, such as improving the undercards of boxing events and making big matchups happen, is an incredibly important improvement for boxing that couldn’t have come sooner. Now, with Dana White on board, who knows what the future may hold?
