The reviews are in for Dana White’s entry into boxing promotion, and one common criticism has emerged.
After announcing plans to launch Zuffa Boxing in 2026 and vowing to change the face of a sport he believes needs saving, White co-promoted Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford alongside Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshikh.
The event, which marked the second high-profile bout to air on Netflix after Jake Paul’s win over Mike Tyson last November, took place at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium and ended with a shock upset. Crawford beat Alvarez across 12 rounds to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.
Amid the fallout to that result, post-event discourse has also surrounded White’s boxing arrival. And according to many fans, one big promise was not fulfilled.
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Dana White’s pacing promise falls flat at Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford
The UFC president has teased a number of changes and improvements to the sport. That includes White’s plan to bring the Contender Series to boxing.
One of the changes most positively received, though, was a vow to fix boxing’s pacing issues. Long breaks between fights and concerts delaying main events have frustrated fans for years, and White’s pre-fight remarks sparked hope of an improvement in that regard.
“I like when the night moves fast, White told Max Kellerman in an interview for The Ring. “Like right now, when you watch a boxing event, they’ll have one fight, then there’s a podcast.
“The night gets dragged out. I mean, it’s bad enough for the people at home watching on TV, the people that are there live, it has to be insane.”
But one fight in the opening 90 minutes of Saturday’s main card quickly brought those comments into question.
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Dana White under fire from fans after boxing problem persists at Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford
Unfortunately, many believe they were sold false hope by White.
Reacting both during and after the Alvarez vs Crawford-headlined card, a number of fans and analysts highlighted the UFC CEO’s pre-fight remarks and accused him of lying.
“I was told Dana White would have better pacing in boxing than the usual.”
“Dana White the biggest liar in human history.”
“Pacing was dogs—. Mini concerts are dumb. Dana ain’t saving a godd— thing.”
“‘Boxing pacing is terrible, that’s one thing I’ll change straight away,’ Yeah, OK Dana.”
“Dana promised this broadcast would go fast, but I’m watching commercials and now Turki tells us how great Saudi Arabia is for boxing.”
“Didn’t Dana White promise better pacing for this boxing card?”
“3 and half hours to get through 3 fights.”
“So Dana White taking over boxing hasn’t changed the awful pacing? We don’t need podcasts in between fights.”
“I thought Dana White wanted to make boxing better by speeding up the shows. 11:40pm and we just getting ring walks.”
“The same Dana White who was complaining about pacing in boxing events, lol, what a joke.”