UFC CEO, Dana White could find himself working with some of the biggest names in boxing in the not so distant future.
For several years now, Dana White has been teasing that he will take his expertise to the boxing world, and he created Zuffa Boxing with Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta to do just that.
The UFC boss has dipped his toe in the water by being the promoter for boxing prospect, Callum Walsh, and last year he took the Irishman to Dublin for a big event.
However, this past Thursday, his next huge venture was announced as White and Turki Alalshikh have teamed up to create TKO Boxing, a new boxing league that will run similarly to the UFC.
Canelo Alvarez could headline TKO Boxing’s first show
During their ground-breaking announcement, White and Turki Alalshikh revealed that their plan is for the league to run in the same format as the UFC with rankings per weight class and just one champion per weight class.
The main criticism of boxing is that it is too hard to follow for the fans, as there are multiple titles per weight class, making it more difficult to build stars.
Despite that, one fighter who has benefited from the traditional boxing format, is Canelo Alvarez. The Mexican superstar was formerly the undisputed super middleweight champion and on May 3, he will have the chance to achieve that feat again when he takes on William Scull.
However, the fans and even Alalshikh are already looking past Canelo’s scheduled fight against Scull as Canelo and Alalshikh signed an exclusive deal for the Mexican to fight in Saudi Arabia.
And with the recent announcement of TKO Boxing, Canelo could compete in the new league and he has given his reaction to the news.
“I think it’s the best for the fighters out there, I’m fine with that. I think they’re gonna build the best for the fighters, I’m pretty sure about that, and I’m glad somebody take care of the fighters because there are a lot of promoters that don’t take the fighters seriously,” Canelo told The Last Round.
“I need to take care of my May fight first, then we will see about September. That’s a possibility to fight in Las Vegas in September and be the first (to compete on TKO Boxing),” Canelo continued.
Turki Alalshikh and Dana White talk potential September event
Although the finer details regarding TKO Boxing haven’t been released yet, Alalshikh and White have revealed that they are targeting September 12 for their inaugural event.
“We are getting together with (Alalshikh) tomorrow, we’re gonna shoot some content and when it’s time to announce, we have a massive fight and this is exactly what I’m talking about, a massive fight that only this guy could make happen… We will announce it when we’re ready too,” White said on the Pat McAfee show.
Turki has made it clear that he wants to make a super-fight between Canelo and Terence Crawford, with rumors circulating that will be the inaugural headline fight of a TKO Boxing event.