Dana White is set for one of the biggest weeks of his career to date following the announcement that TKO Boxing will launch with Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.
On September 12, the two boxing stars will collide at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium despite the fact that the UFC president has previously been against running events in a venue like this.
A fight of this magnitude has no option but to be on a stage this big but that hasn’t stopped the TKO Boxing promoter from putting his foot down in the past, even with stars like Ilia Topuria constantly trying to make it happen.
After White attended WrestleMania 41 at Allegiant Stadium, he was asked in his post-fight press conference following UFC Kansas City whether this had made him reconsider his stance.
“Nothing will change my mind about a stadium show… I really like this town and the energy in that place was awesome all night. That’s the energy you get in an [arena].”
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Dana White clarifies that he still ‘hates’ stadium shows ahead of Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford at Allegiant Stadium
In a recent interview with Carlos Contreras Legaspi for ESPN Deportes, Dana White spoke about the plans for Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford now that his involvement has been made official.
The UFC president has planned to enter the boxing world for many years, it just so happens that his first real foray will involve one of the biggest fights in recent years.
“It’s an absolute honor and Canelo and Crawford have both been great about this too. I look forward to working with these guys from now until September, it’s going to be fun.”
White was then asked about the decision to put the fight inside Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders which has over 65,000 seats.
He clarified once again that he will always prefer running an event in an arena but under this special circumstance, he’ll try to pull out all the stops in order to improve the overall experience.
“Yeah, I hate it. I hate it. So, because I hate it so much, you know I’m gonna have to try to figure out how to make it an incredible experience inside Allegiant [Stadium].”
Dana White outlines what role he and TKO will have in Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford
Following what will likely be the biggest boxing match of 2025 on September 12, Dana White will be moving immediately on to the next major event on the TKO calendar.
The following day will see the third installment of Noche UFC with the Octagon heading to Arena Guadalajara which is still set to open following several delays.
Despite this incredibly busy schedule, White confirmed to ESPN Deportes that TKO isn’t just helping to put on Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.
The UFC president and his team are just as involved in that event as they are in UFC 320 which goes down on September 13.
“This is one of the biggest fights ever and obviously I’m honored to be promoting. But yes, when they say we’re promoting it, I’m doing the promotion, we’re doing the production, the event ops, PR, everything to do with the fight, just like a UFC fight.”