Comments Thread For: Eddie Hearn offers his views on potential creation of boxing league

[PRINCEKOOL]

I think the league will be good for boxing, but I don't think it will take over boxing 'Like the way the UFC took over Mixed Martial Arts. The only reason the UFC became a super power in the World of Mixed Martial Arts, was because? That sport really has zero history, prestige or global structure. Even now in 2025, there are no genuine World Champions in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. There are only franchise champions, who compete against a few hundred other athletes. They are still great combat sports Champions, but boxing as a entity is a vastly bigger sport than Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC as a overall operation. Those are the objective facts'.

This is what Dana Whyte and his boys are going to find out 'You would expect this news, to of sent shockwaves around the boxing World, but? It has not really. The needle has hardly moved'.

If this concept was so great? Why did Francis Ngannou the so called Heavyweight Champion of mixed martial arts leave the UFC? The concept is great up until a certain point. And predominately for the bosses in charge of the league, that is it.

Note: People that know the history of boxing, both inside and outside of the boxing ring 'They know there is a level which fighters reach, where they essentially become kings of their own dynasty's within a sport. That is how fighters such Floyd Mayweather Junior, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Canelo Alvarez in recent times progressed in their career and acquired so much political and sociological power in their careers'.

This concept of a boxing league, which will be run by a few folks 'Takes away a lot of power and opportunity from the fighters and their teams. The only positives about the concept? Is that fighters would only need to focus on fighting. But people with serious business acumen, will be aware that there are other sporting concepts where the athletes can be involved in more lucrative events'.

To conclude: So overall the boxing league will be good for boxing, in the sense 'That there will be more professional boxing being covered. And it will be a viable route into the sport at a solid level for fighters at different stages of their careers i.e. Maybe fighters at the beginning of their careers, domestic level fighters, or fighters in the latter part of their careers'.

But I don't expect it to take over the actual sport of boxing, seriously be honest with yourselves? How can a franchise sport, with no genuine world Champions 'Take over a sport which is global? Boxing is a global sport, the UFC is not a Global sport. The concept of the UFC, does not want the sport to truly be a Global Sport'.

A Franchise sport by definitive is not a Global sport 'It is a in house sport. A Global sport is where all comers can participate in the sport, and fight their way up the rankings to the top. That does not exist in the UFC, or any other Franchise sport'.

Do NBA Basketball teams get regulated or do teams get promoted? NO. Because there is nowhere to go outside of the NBA 'The NBA does not have any World Champions in that league. It is still a awesome sport, the teams and athletes are still great Champions. But people need to understand, the concept of a in house franchise sport actually marginalizes and decreases the participating levels and opportunities for truly global sports'.

This was why in Soccer, the European Super League was rejected 'Which was essentially this same Americanized Franchised concept attempting to take over European Soccer as a sport'.

The TKO Champions will want to fight the real Boxing World Champions, and there will be a demand for that 'So that will be the positives of the league. But that is exactly what I would imagine Dana Whyte and his boys don't want for his TKO Fighters'.

Boxing is not a franchise sport, it has never been a elitist sport. It is one of the last Working class, blue collar sports 'And that is what makes it a great sport' etc.

[TMLT87]

I
How can a franchise sport, with no genuine world Champions 'Take over a sport which is global? Boxing is a global sport, the UFC is not a Global sport. The concept of the UFC, does not want the sport to truly be a Global Sport'

You are stuck in the past with this mate. This isnt 2005, the UFC is a GLOBAL sports league nowadays.

Of their 12 current belt holders 8 different nationalities are represented. Their p4p top 10 has 6 nationalities represented (which is the same as Ring magazines current p4p top 10 for boxing), their next card has fighters from 8 different countries on it. Over the last 12 months they've held events in 9 different countries, coming up this month alone there are UFC cards in the US, UK and Mexico. They have more fighters on their roster than PBC, Top Rank, Matchroom and Queensberry combined too, signed from all over the world, which is why all this "they dont have world champions" stuff is kind of ridiculous. The majority of top talent in the sport of MMA is in the UFC.

Looking at MMA as a whole rather than just the UFC, going by Boxrec and Sherdog for the schedule for both sports for the rest of this month, there are boxing events taking place across 38 countries and MMA events taking place across 34. The gap isnt as big as you seem to think it is.

Slovakian MMA promotion Oktagon did just shy of 60k for a card in Germany the same night as Beterbiev/Bivol 1, as far as i'm aware that card pulled the biggest attendance for any combat sport in mainland Europe, with the second largest attendance being a KSW card in Poland, they also did a reality show for channel 4 in the UK with English vs Irish MMA fighters.. Then theres Rizin in Japan which pulls big crowds, ACA and RCC in Russia, One FC based in Singapore, Cage Warriors in the UK (granted the UK domestic scene used to be bigger with BAMMA doing crowds of 10-15k in the 2010s), Brave and UAE Warriors based in the Middle East, France based Ares FC etc etc. Most of these promotions have held events outside of their home countries too. The amount of MMA promotions out there around the world with a solid quality product with production values, English commentary etc etc that you can watch without too much trouble would surprise a lot of people.

Oh yeah there was a French drama on Netflix just recently called The Cage about some young French up and coming MMA fighter, it had UFC guys like GSP and Frenchman Gane in it. By all accounts MMA has been blowing up in France in recent years.

So yes, you're underselling MMA and overselling boxing here, imo.

[Pulmonary Embolii]

We hardcore fans talk about it but the casual sports fan doesn’t give a f***. The numbers/viewing figures strongly support that argument too.

Football has never been PPV in the UK. It never will be either because it's not a niche product.

Fighters are only looking to fight during Riyadh Season?

You really think boxing is the end game for the Saudis? lol You think they're gonna keep just losing money on these cards? Fossil fuels are a becoming a thing of the past, the Saudis need to build tourism to sustain their economy, boxing is just a small part of that plan.

Where do I start? Firstly, people do talk about boxing and if you chat with enough folk, you'll be surprised. I've talked with strangers on trains, buses, in the supermarket, etc about fights and it's not like I just run up to people and shout "you better start talking about boxing or else", they just see a magazine I've bought or a logo on a cap. I have a colleague who only used to talk about football and particularly Arsenal, God bless him. I had no idea he was interested in boxing until I mentioned Golovkin being robbed by Canelo (again), just expecting a grunt back and we ended up arguing because he agreed Gennady won the first bout but thought Saul won the second, which I thought was a Gennady victory again. You don't know exactly who is interested in the fight game. As for viewing figures, have you heard of piracy? And if you have, how are you getting those figures and then including them in the total audience for boxing?

As for football never being PPV, I only just recently looked and to watch all the English Premier League you have to pay subscriptions to Sky, Amazon Prime and TNT. That's 3 subscriptions for one league in one sport and if you don't call all of that PPV, you probably argue that pork sausages and bacon are made from different animals. I was in hospital last year and paid for a package of tv channels. To watch the Championship play off final and entirely separately, the European Championship final, you had to pay more, twice. That is paying per view. Also, one of the city centre cinema's where I live shows European Championship matches on a big screen. Guess what? You need to buy a ticket. PPV. Maybe you break glass and climb through windows, good luck to you.

As for your fossil fuels are dead statement, do they have two million windmills where you live? Maybe more nuclear plants? Solar panels on their umbrellas?

Then you finished with your Saudi money hates boxing really and wants to be a hot tourist resort with ladies wearing bikinis and everyone relaxing with a beer or two. FYI, drinking a glass of wine with a meal is forbidden and sun bathing in bikinis is for private beaches only. I can't foresee billions of folk lashing out huge prices to holiday there. Are you going soon? Don't forget your budgie smugglers and sun protection.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Where do I start? Firstly, people do talk about boxing and if you chat with enough folk, you'll be surprised. I've talked with strangers on trains, buses, in the supermarket, etc about fights and it's not like I just run up to people and shout "you better start talking about boxing or else", they just see a magazine I've bought or a logo on a cap. I have a colleague who only used to talk about football and particularly Arsenal, God bless him. I had no idea he was interested in boxing until I mentioned Golovkin being robbed by Canelo (again), just expecting a grunt back and we ended up arguing because he agreed Gennady won the first bout but thought Saul won the second, which I thought was a Gennady victory again. You don't know exactly who is interested in the fight game. As for viewing figures, have you heard of piracy? And if you have, how are you getting those figures and then including them in the total audience for boxing?

As for football never being PPV, I only just recently looked and to watch all the English Premier League you have to pay subscriptions to Sky, Amazon Prime and TNT. That's 3 subscriptions for one league in one sport and if you don't call all of that PPV, you probably argue that pork sausages and bacon are made from different animals. I was in hospital last year and paid for a package of tv channels. To watch the Championship play off final and entirely separately, the European Championship final, you had to pay more, twice. That is paying per view. Also, one of the city centre cinema's where I live shows European Championship matches on a big screen. Guess what? You need to buy a ticket. PPV. Maybe you break glass and climb through windows, good luck to you.

As for your fossil fuels are dead statement, do they have two million windmills where you live? Maybe more nuclear plants? Solar panels on their umbrellas?

Then you finished with your Saudi money hates boxing really and wants to be a hot tourist resort with ladies wearing bikinis and everyone relaxing with a beer or two. FYI, drinking a glass of wine with a meal is forbidden and sun bathing in bikinis is for private beaches only. I can't foresee billions of folk lashing out huge prices to holiday there. Are you going soon? Don't forget your budgie smugglers and sun protection.

Boxing is nowhere near as popular as it once was. The days of Eubank and Benn doing 16 million viewers on ITV are long gone. All the viewing metrics prove boxing’s popularity has declined. Yeah 15 million people must be pirating these fights. GTFOH…

Football has never been PPV in the UK. You were wrong. PPV marginalises the audience because you need to squeeze as much as you can out of a smaller audience. Football will never have that problem.

Fossil fuels will be completely depleted by 2060. The entire Saudi economy is reliant upon revenue generated from oil. Do the math… there’s a reason Elon Musk is so rich from electric cars.

The Saudi don’t like or dislike boxing, it’s simply a vehicle for them to improve their image and help build tourism. Google sports washing.

[TMLT87]

Boxing is nowhere near as popular as it once was. The days of Eubank and Benn doing 16 million viewers on ITV are long gone. All the viewing metrics prove boxing’s popularity has declined. Yeah 15 million people must be pirating these fights. GTFOH…

Tbf if AJ and Fury fights were on ITV they'd be doing big numbers too.

Also in general its not as black and white as looking at tv ratings now, especially not if we are comparing to something like Eubank/Benn 2. Most people back then had 4 channels to watch and that was it. Nowadays people spend more time watching stuff online than on tv. Things have much more of a global reach now as well because of the internet, Eubank/Benn 2 had a big domestic tv audience yeah, but how many people outside of the UK cared about/watched it compared to the international audience for Fury and AJ fights?

[ELPacman]

We hardcore fans talk about it but the casual sports fan doesn’t give a f***. The numbers/viewing figures strongly support that argument too.

Football has never been PPV in the UK. It never will be either because it’s not a niche product.

Fighters are only looking to fight during Riyadh Season and why wouldn’t they, it’s far better money. It’s making the sport seasonal and creating a false market. Long term it’s gonna hurt the sport IMO.

You really think boxing is the end game for the Saudi’s? You think they’re gonna keep just losing money on these cards? Fossil fuels are a becoming a thing of the past, the Saudi’s need to build tourism to sustain their economy, boxing is just a small part of that plan.

This is what I've been getting at for awhile. The crown prince is not giving Turki a **** ton of money so that Turki can fulfill his boxing fantasy matchups and please himself and the fans. The crown prince is working with Turki and it is Turki advising that, the more exposure to the country, it will help give them a nice image and attract further investors for other sports or areas and help expand tourism.

[champion4ever]

There's already been one. Has anyone ever heard of the PBC?

[RingoKid]

It was only a matter of time before Turki's folly and sportswashing enterprise needed to turn a profit. It wasn't gonna happen with Fisheyes and Eddie the Eel running the show.

Boxers will need to sign exclusively with TKO and forget about getting ranked by the alphabets...imho
No more sanctioning fees. One Ring Magazine to rule them all. Dana will get early eyes on the product but like LIV golf, the gimmick will wear thin over time.

The whole thing reeks of hostile corporate takeover with asset stripping and firesales to follow, then whatevers left gets folded into the UFC parent company.

Boxing is too limited and too exclusive to compete with MMA.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

This is what I've been getting at for awhile. The crown prince is not giving Turki a **** ton of money so that Turki can fulfill his boxing fantasy matchups and please himself and the fans. The crown prince is working with Turki and it is Turki advising that, the more exposure to the country, it will help give them a nice image and attract further investors for other sports or areas and help expand tourism.

Yeah it’s beyond obvious, it’s all part of a much bigger strategy. It’ll fun while it lasts and great for the fighters/promoters making money from it but it won’t last forever and I do think it could hurt the sport in the long run.

[PRINCEKOOL]

You are stuck in the past with this mate. This isnt 2005, the UFC is a GLOBAL sports league nowadays.

Of their 12 current belt holders 8 different nationalities are represented. Their p4p top 10 has 6 nationalities represented (which is the same as Ring magazines current p4p top 10 for boxing), their next card has fighters from 8 different countries on it. Over the last 12 months they've held events in 9 different countries, coming up this month alone there are UFC cards in the US, UK and Mexico. They have more fighters on their roster than PBC, Top Rank, Matchroom and Queensberry combined too, signed from all over the world, which is why all this "they dont have world champions" stuff is kind of ridiculous. The majority of top talent in the sport of MMA is in the UFC.

Looking at MMA as a whole rather than just the UFC, going by Boxrec and Sherdog for the schedule for both sports for the rest of this month, there are boxing events taking place across 38 countries and MMA events taking place across 34. The gap isnt as big as you seem to think it is.

Slovakian MMA promotion Oktagon did just shy of 60k for a card in Germany the same night as Beterbiev/Bivol 1, as far as i'm aware that card pulled the biggest attendance for any combat sport in mainland Europe, with the second largest attendance being a KSW card in Poland, they also did a reality show for channel 4 in the UK with English vs Irish MMA fighters.. Then theres Rizin in Japan which pulls big crowds, ACA and RCC in Russia, One FC based in Singapore, Cage Warriors in the UK (granted the UK domestic scene used to be bigger with BAMMA doing crowds of 10-15k in the 2010s), Brave and UAE Warriors based in the Middle East, France based Ares FC etc etc. Most of these promotions have held events outside of their home countries too. The amount of MMA promotions out there around the world with a solid quality product with production values, English commentary etc etc that you can watch without too much trouble would surprise a lot of people.

Oh yeah there was a French drama on Netflix just recently called The Cage about some young French up and coming MMA fighter, it had UFC guys like GSP and Frenchman Gane in it. By all accounts MMA has been blowing up in France in recent years.

So yes, you're underselling MMA and overselling boxing here, imo.

I am telling you how Global sports operate 'The UFC is a franchise sport, it is not a global sport. You know precisely what I am saying is correct, but you are choosing not to acknowledge it. And you are attempting to convince yourself that the UFC is a Global sport in the same way that Football, Track and Field Athletics, Rugby and Boxing are as sports'.

There are no World Champions in the UFC, or Mixed Martial Arts 'But there are World Champions in boxing, because it is a Global sport. Which functions and operates from a open class competitive field, like most of the world's global sports'.

The new TKO boxing league if? It is going to be run like the UFC, then it is just a bunch of fighters 'Fighting in a franchise sport, going around and around in a circle. Until every now and again new fighters are signed, or beaten fighters are pushed out'.

Seriously? Do you honestly think that concept is going to take over the entire Sport boxing? It will add to the sport, and more than likely motivated old school styled promoters to produce more quality events.

Note: This Boxing league will be good for boxing, I have no doubt about that 'But I highly doubt, it will take over a actual prestigious and historic sport with its own vast heritage. This is where I think myself, and folks like you? Are kind of in disagreement'.

I expect the league will be great up and coming fighters, domestic level fighters and journey men. And then top level fighters in the latter part of their careers, wanting some consistent fights. That would be the main bulk of their action produced'.

It will be like the way top European Soccer players, in the latter part of their careers 'Go and play Soccer in America, or other less significant leagues around the World. They are all still great leagues, but not quite the major leagues'.

To conclude: Dana White has entered into boxing for reason 'Because it is the premier combat sport in the World, no matter what people say? The UFC and mixed martial arts as a whole has not eclipsed boxing. He has now decided to enter into the major leagues, the Formula 1, Olympic level of combat sports'.

And I think he will do very well, and build a great boxing league 'They will only add more dimensions to the sport of boxing' etc.