Biggest changes in Boxing if/when the UFC/WME comes in? Sanctioning Bodies dead?

[paulf]

I’ve had the opinion for a long time that boxing doesn’t work as a global sport without FIFA-like body governing the whole like (corrupt as it may be).

Boxing is too global for a UFC-like monopoly system to take hold, but we need a US based belt with credibility that is the focus of the public’s attention.

[Eff Pandas]

Well, that's kind of what I'm saying. The State Athletic Commissions are "official." They're the government, you have to deal with them. But who says that these sanctioning orgs have any power, any sway? The IBF and WBO just popped up into existence the 1980s, what made anyone recognize them as anything?

And I'm not saying that the State Athletic Commissions should be ranking fighters. I was distinguishing between them and sanctioning orgs in relation to the ABC.

Rankings in Boxing are a contrivance. Contrived to a point of being silly.
- Wilder is not ranked by the WBO, IBF, or WBA
- Fury is not ranked by the IBF or WBA
If you're supposed to be an independent 3rd party why do you not rank the fighters objectively??? What the fugk are you worth, why do you even exist then?!?

I'm not sure how strong, how committed, how truly independent the new Transnational Boxing Ranking Board really is, but their rankings are at least sensible. There aren't fighters who are completely missing from their rankings.



... TBC (watching the NBA Finals)...

Do you pay attention to these state commissions? Do you see some of these 103 year old men & women they deem quality officials? You think THEY are doing a good job of ranking fighters?

Also which state commission are ranking fighters?

One? Which one? Or all of them?

Who's paying these people do meet once a month & study fighters leading up to the monthly vote to be able to rank them in the first place? Are they ranking everyone in the world or just people in their state &/or other US states?

Are are you talking about all the world commissions combined?

I don't think you realize how this would be an even bigger clusterf#ck then what we got now & still open to the same corruption.

Whats happening now is a problem no argument from me on that, but I think what you are suggesting would be a bigger problem & more costly & likely as corrupt if not more corrupt.

I want a legit 3rd party of respected boxing people who are currently unaffiliated on some sort of board of directors for boxing. Not the dumb ass government to run the sport.

I want a poll of boxing writers who through their voting comes up with the top 10 of every division.

I want some universal rules drawn up by the board of directors that are written in stone & aren't up for debate if you bring enough money to boxing or are popular enough.

I want the board of directors to be constantly revolving & able to be removed if any misconduct is proven against a member.

Or you could even make a group of "owners" aka the major promoters who have a greater goal of running boxing more like a machine that would be of benefit to all parties. You'd have to come up with some sorta plan as how you spread the money among all owners that would make sense so that it'd be of greater benefit to be included in this ownership pool then to be outside of it.

And you'd either want some ability to create tiers in boxing to mimic a "major" "minor" & "rookie" levels of boxing for example that guys can move through & there'd be a regular schedule or tournament at each level that results in the better guys who are able to move up a level at the lower divisions & results in a annual or probably better for boxing a bi-annual "champion" at the top tier. Or something that better looks like a competitive sport most of us know vs what boxing currently is where there is rarely any two moves that make sense.

Or you could always just go with a boxing writer poll like with my previous example if you didn't wanna shake the status quo up too much.

[Scipio2009]

WME-IMG, parent company of the UFC, is in talks to purchase Boxing's PBC and is rumored to be in talks to buy Top Rank, as well.

HBO Boxing is dead. DAZN is a new kid on the block. ESPN is all in on MMA, broadcasting partners with the UFC. Bob Arum is two hundred and ninety eight years old. If and when the UFC/WME gets into Boxing, they will instantly be a big player on the scene.

I get the feeling that we're sitting right on the precipice of major upheaval in the sport of Boxing.

What are some of the biggest changes that will happen if/when the UFC/WME gets into Boxing?

PBC isn't being sold; the piece of PBC that was purchased by Waddell & Reid with that initial seed money (no one knows for sure but word is that W&R put up at least $500m to get in business with Haymon) is the only thing that's being talked about, and even then it's not like Haymon/W&R went soliciting for a sale.

PBC is a joint TV brand for fighters under Haymon's management and affiliated parties, with Showtime/CBS and Fox Sports keeping with the general PBC look but tweaking the presentation for their own tastes.

WME-IMG (Endeavor) being a minority partner in the PBC TV brand (with Haymon keeping his fighters under his management company and the broadcasters controlling the presentation) won't change as much as you think (better production on some of the extra content, maybe).

WME buying Top Rank would be interesting though; in the sense that Top Rank Boxing could still be an add-on to the UFC on ESPN after the current deal is up (Top Rank hasn't really delivered much value as a standalone property yet), and that you can pretty easily fold in the Top Rank library and content into the UFC's Fight Pass service.

[USMCer]

Do you pay attention to these state commissions? Do you see some of these 103 year old men & women they deem quality officials? You think THEY are doing a good job of ranking fighters?

Also which state commission are ranking fighters?
One? Which one? Or all of them?...

Hold on, lets not mix up the two. State Athletic Commissions are one thing (NSAC, CSAC, NJSACB, etc)... and then "sanctioning organizations" are another (WBO, IBF, etc). State Athletic Commissions do not rank fighters, the "sanctioning orgs" do.

You kind of have to deal with Athletic Commissions, they're government ent!ties. They regulate the sport, monitor fighter's safety, etc. But the "sanctioning orgs" are just a group of money-grubbers who decided to create a "Belt" so they could tax Boxers for their "recognition."

...

[USMCer]

This new group, the Transnational Boxing Ranking Board seems too have objectivity in what they do. They're not a "sanctioning org." They don't tax the Boxer for their recognition/rankings/belts. They're an all-volunteer organization made up of 50 members from 20 countries/5 continents of Boxing journalists.

Mission Statement: The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board was formed in October 2012 as a volunteer initiative to provide boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings, identify the singular world champion of every division by strict reasoning and common sense, and to insist on the sport’s reform. Board membership includes fifty respected boxing journalists and record keepers from around the world who are uncompromised by so-called sanctioning bodies and promoters.

Everyone, take a look at their Rankings (here) and tell me that they're not more reasonable than any of the "sanctioning bodies" Rankings. They make sense. They're understandable.

[USMCer]

If Dana is running the show like he runs the UFC then boxers will do as they are told and get paid a lot less. I don't like all the sanctioning bodies but I am not sure the UFC is this great answer to all problems.

Yeah... but the question remains, what are the Biggest Changes that you could see happening if WME/Dana get into Boxing?

(no one is suggesting that they would be "this great answer to all the problems)

[Tony Trick-Pony]

PBC and Top Rank purchases would corner the American market that's for sure. Let's go back to 8 weight classes, one belt per weight class.

Yes!!

Please God, yes!!

[rwyatt05]

Guys, this might end up happening but IF it does, I wouldn’t expect to hear any news prior to this Fall. Nothing to see here for now.

[Eff Pandas]

Hold on, lets not mix up the two. State Athletic Commissions are one thing (NSAC, CSAC, NJSACB, etc)... and then "sanctioning organizations" are another (WBO, IBF, etc). State Athletic Commissions do not rank fighters, the "sanctioning orgs" do.

You kind of have to deal with Athletic Commissions, they're government ent!ties. They regulate the sport, monitor fighter's safety, etc. But the "sanctioning orgs" are just a group of money-grubbers who decided to create a "Belt" so they could tax Boxers for their "recognition."

...

I'm just saying idk want state commissions doing rankings & all the rankings groups out there are flawed or limited in their scope right now.

You'd basically need to create a boxing writers poll or something with lotsa people to avoid potentially corrupt mfers from having too much power.

[Eff Pandas]

This new group, the Transnational Boxing Ranking Board seems too have objectivity in what they do. They're not a "sanctioning org." They don't tax the Boxer for their recognition/rankings/belts. They're an all-volunteer organization made up of 50 members from 20 countries/5 continents of Boxing journalists.

Mission Statement: The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board was formed in October 2012 as a volunteer initiative to provide boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings, identify the singular world champion of every division by strict reasoning and common sense, and to insist on the sport’s reform. Board membership includes fifty respected boxing journalists and record keepers from around the world who are uncompromised by so-called sanctioning bodies and promoters.

Everyone, take a look at their Rankings (here) and tell me that they're not more reasonable than any of the "sanctioning bodies" Rankings. They make sense. They're understandable.

This is one f#cking guy who's largely controlling this & they got some weird ass "suggestion" way of moving guys up & down rankings. I was high on them at one point myself. Idc if it "makes sense" today or not.

ESPN rankings "make sense" than ABC Groups too, but those are basically Fat Dan's rankings.

I think you just write out a top ten monthly among a hundred or two boxing people & then do some math to come up with the top ten.