In an unsubtle greeting to his fellow combat sports veteran, World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman made clear to Dana White that boxing’s way of business doesn’t change with the snap of a finger.
After listening to White’s plans to pursue alterations in federal regulations that protect boxers – notably by being able to rank and award belts to those fighters it will seal into contracts – Sulaiman said “welcome to boxing” to White and his new Zuffa Boxing brand, but also provided a history lesson.
“Boxing is the sport of the poor of the world … a global sport with a huge platform including … many more international promoters and hundreds of regional ones,” Sulaiman wrote in a message posted on the WBC’s social media platforms. “Boxing has managers and advisors who negotiate the best [deals] for their fighters and that is how all boxers who step into the ring [have] their best interests protected.”
Zuffa Boxing, after announcing a multi-year broadcast deal with Paramount+ and CBS this week that will start in January, is in the process of compiling a stable of fighters, screening as many as 450, White told CBS Sports on Monday.
White said he intends to stage in-house bouts without associating with the four sanctioning bodies, including Sulaiman’s WBC. He also doesn’t need rival promoters and is seeking to strike exclusive contracts with fighters that would lessen the importance of managers.
The organization would resemble a UFC model that the company’s CEO and president White has presided over for more than two decades.
Winning the passage of the changes it seeks in boxing’s federal regulations is seen as likely, given White’s close friendship with President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress.
White’s UFC is staging a fight card at the White House next year.
Sulaiman used his statement to distinguish boxing as a free enterprise rather than a corporate-controlled entity such as the UFC.
“Boxing is an open-competition market for boxers to choose from the best options available, and therefore boxing has eradicated exploitation and abuse of power,” Sulaiman wrote. “A boxer is a dignified human being, not merchandise to be used to enrich just a few” in the corporate setting.
“Boxers put their lives at stake in the ring, deserve the best care and protection and must be respected, supported and appreciated.”
While White and many others have criticized boxing for making excessive title fights and charging 3 per cent sanctioning fees while also rightfully blasting the self-inflicted damage the sport has committed by denying many bouts between rival promoters over the years, Sulaiman underscored the warnings of committing to Zuffa Boxing’s control.
Although the company has promised improved minimum purses and health care, much of the fine print is vague, including drug testing and how busy the company intends to keep its fighters. Some leaked purse schedules fell behind what others would earn if they succeed similarly in the sport’s current environment.
The federal protections are necessary, Sulaiman lobbied, because they offer “a structure to operate having boxers’ safety as the top priority. Boxing regulators exist to also protect boxers and make sure that no conflicts of interest get in the way of justice and fairness.”
The WBC presides over an Olympic-style drug testing plan operated by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, and it has been credited with other safety changes over the years, including 12-round title fights and eliminating a fourth ring rope.
Zuffa Boxing arrives at a watershed period, backed by the oil-funded Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh with $10 million of annual support as he has made and taken a series of elite, high-profile bouts out of the US and UK to Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, powerful promoter Top Rank is functioning without a current broadcast deal following the expiration of its deal with ESPN, and many Premier Boxing Champions and Golden Boy Promotions standouts are fighting on Saudi-backed cards.
Sulaiman countered that the sport is going through a golden era with undisputed champions Naoya Inoue, Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford, along with the surging popularity of women’s boxing.
Zuffa Boxing has argued its proposed changes are necessary to ensure a boxing renaissance.
In opposing corners, it’s the new kid in town and the old guard.
Now all that’s needed is the bell to start Round 1.
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
