While there has been some hung-up thinking that fighters belonging to the new Zuffa Boxing promotion are bound strictly to bouts staged by the Las Vegas-based organization, the truth is beginning to reveal itself.
Zuffa-linked fighters are free to fight for cards sponsored by Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh’s The Ring, such as the one coming May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
Respected trainer Brian “BoMac” McIntyre will corner Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight Jamar Talley, 6-0 (5 KOs), versus Egypt’s Basem Mamdouh on the undercard of the DAZN-streamed card topped by three-belt heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s defense against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.
“They’ve already got a big push behind him,” McIntyre said of Zuffa placing Talley, 26, prominently on its Paramount+ card. “By letting him fight on these big ‘Ring’ cards, too, he’s going to look good and be seen… I think we’re going to mop this guy out.”
Talley debuted on Zuffa’s February 1 card, knocking out Devonte Williams in the second round.
Zuffa Boxing previously placed its unbeaten welterweight Conor Benn and Houston’s promising super-lightweight Breyon Gorham, 22-0 (17 KOs), on the April 11 The Ring card at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Netflix.
Benn defeated former 140lbs champion Regis Prograis and Gorham scored a fifth-round TKO.
As the Zuffa Boxing cards grow out of the Meta Apex in Las Vegas to destinations including London and The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, the promotion directed by Nick Khan and UFC CEO/President Dana White will offer its own title fights.
Its roster is actively and rapidly expanding with more high-profile signees, including recent champions and title contenders Jai Opetaia, Richardson Hitchins and Edgar Berlanga.
And while White has said he prefers to not work with other promoters and sanctioning bodies as Zuffa has lobbied for what it describes as an enhanced Ali Act allowing it to rank its own fighters, Alalshikh is invested in both Zuffa Boxing – reportedly as a 60% investor – while Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund owns a reported 10 per cent portion of DAZN.
Alalshikh fully owns The Ring Magazine.
The Ring has long awarded its own belt to the respective division’s lineal champion.
So there is real financial incentive to pursue bouts such as Benn versus Golden Boy Promotions’ WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia and former IBF champion Opetaia versus Premier Boxing Champions’ newly unified cruiserweight champion David Benavidez on “The Ring” cards.
It’s why Zuffa Boxing has been so strongly linked to recruiting champions like unbeaten four-division champion Shakur Stevenson and three-division welterweight champion Devin Haney – fighters who’ll secure major multi-fight contracts expecting to meet the best talent available.
And as the early bout placement proves, it’s not only about keeping the fighters restrained to the confines of Zuffa Boxing, but presenting opportunities worldwide to see who truly is the best in The Ring.
