'I'm offended': Promoters react to claim new TKO boxing league will 'crush' competition

Once upon a time UFC boss Dana White told respected fight reporter Kevin Iole "boxing does not work" because "you need a Saudi f---ing trillionaire to make f---ing fights."

"And even Saudi trillionaires get tired of the f---ing bullshit," White added.

Thankfully they haven't for White's sake. The man who has lambasted boxing for as long as he's been boss of the UFC, is now in partnership with "Saudi trillionaires" to fix the sport that he has long labelled corrupt.

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Last week, the UFC boss and the MMA promotion's parent company TKO announced it had entered a multi-year partnership with Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, and Sela, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Led by White and WWE president and TKO board member Nick Khan, TKO will serve as managing partner and run the day-to-day operations of the promotion.

But how will the new players blend into boxing's dysfunctional world?

How will the Saudi TKO Boxing League work?

The league has yet to come up with a name but White will recruit around 150-160 boxers from around the world and will work the promotion the same way he has the UFC - fighters will have to face each other to earn the right to move up the rankings.

Boxers will also have access to the UFC Performance Institute; offering state-of-the-art training facilities in Las Vegas, Mexico City and Shanghai.

One of the biggest gripes about boxing among a host of others is the political nature of the rankings.

While the best performers and most marketable fighters can move up the ladder, too many times fighters have been moved up in the WBC, WBA, IBF or WBO by paying fees to fight for, and defend, regional belts.

Some fans love the dysfunctional nature of the sport, describing it as a wave that has no parameters. However, many have grown tired with the current structure.

Four fighters can claim to be a world champion in a weight class at any given time. Then you have "Regular," 'Interim" and "Diamond" straps. It's all very confusing for the ardent fan let alone the casual observer.

On top of that, fans have been starved of the best fighting the best because of promotional contracts and exclusive television deals.

But the new league will adopt a streamlined structure - meaning the promotion will crown one undisputed champion per division and will develop talent internationally through academies.

"What we care about is finding the young and up and coming talent and building up these fights and try and find the best fighter in each weight class," UFC boss Dana White told ESPN.

"There won't be six different champions in each weight class. There will be one. You will know who the best heavyweight is, who the best light heavyweight is, etc.

"If you start asking fans of the sport who the champ is at each weight - people will actually know."

Which weight classes will be contested in the TKO Boxing League?

It's expected that all current operating weight classes will feature in the promotion, meaning 17 leagues would be staged.

Originally there were eight divisions in boxing, but that has been expanded with a further nine classifications.

There were reports White and TKO were going to adopt 12 weight classes for the promotion.

But new information suggests the Saudi TKO Boxing League will feature all 17 existing divisions.

Which fighters will appear in the TKO Boxing League?

White and TKO have yet to announce any fighters on their books officially, but they'll undoubtedly try and secure some of the biggest names in the business.

Such a venture would be deemed virtually impossible due to the contractual arrangements the best fighters have with their promoters and broadcasters. However, with Alalshikh's involvement anything is possible.

With the might of Saudi oil money behind him, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority has already brought together rival promoters to book some of the biggest fights in recent memory.

Even without the big names, the organisation will look to develop up-and-coming talent just like the UFC did and hope to transform them into household names.

Details on signings are expected to be announced in the coming months as anticipation for the debut of the league builds.

When will the TKO Boxing League start?

There's no official date yet but it's said the debut event will be in 2026.

No locations have been announced, but it's more than likely Saudi Arabia will play host to the bigger events.

TKO will take care of the production of the fights. The start date will depend on when a broadcast rights deal can be secured.

What titles will boxers fight for?

Nothing has been confirmed but we do know the new league will bring an end to the multi-belt era by having one champion, with a single belt in each division.

Alalshikh, who owns Ring Magazine, suggested on X (formerly Twitter) that the Ring Magazine title could be put up.

The belt has traditionally been presented to the lineal champion in a weight class.

What about rival promoters?

Alalshikh has said he plans to "crush" the competition and become the go-to promotion for boxing.

And his intentions were made clear during the recent Canelo Alvarez v William Scull press conference, when Alalshikh shook his head to reject the WBC belt on stage during a photo opportunity.

White said recently boxing has nobody to blame but itself for being so fragmented.

"When was the first boxing match? 1681?" White said in an interview. "So think about this: 1681 to 2025.

"Tell me something that's created trillions of dollars in revenue, and at the end of the day, there's nothing there.

"By the time we're done, this will be a league much like the UFC. You have the brand, and there's all these ancillary things that are built off the brand—video games, gyms, merchandise, the list goes on and on. All of these things will create revenue that will also kick back to the fighters like the UFC does."

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman was pragmatic in his response when asked about the new venture: "I have absolutely no concern or no negative views whatsoever [about TKO's boxing league]," he said.

"I think anything that comes into boxing is sensational. I know a lot of people [...] started speculating and finding conspiracy theories or whatever, but absolutely not.

"I think the WBC should make its position public, which is [that this] is a good opportunity, because we have always supported any movement, any company, any tournaments that have been put together.

"I truly believe that with [TKO] and what His Excellency has done in just under two years, it should be a great thing for the sport."

Matchroom's Eddie Hearn told Boxing King Media: "I've had so many people phoning me up, 'Did you hear what they said?! What are you going to do?!'

"I'm so chilled. Like, call it arrogance, call it delusion: I'm the best boxing promoter in the world, bar none, so I have no fear if they want to try and crush me – which I don't think is the agenda by any means. I'm bang up for it."

But former world champion and Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya felt slighted over the deal with his long time nemesis White.

"Look, I did hear that he passed over the reigns of boxing to Dana White. Well, that comment to me, I felt a little offended because I have been in boxing all of my life. I have been promoting for 20 some odd years now," he told Fight Hub TV.

"So, what I am going to do is stay in my lane and do what I do for Golden Boy and DAZN, and give the fight fans that could possibly be made. It's what we have been doing for years.

"Working with Turki and Riyadh Season and sprinkling in these championship big events, it's an honour for me to do that."

What side effects will pop up?

Nobody knows how things will play out but in any facet of life - and especially boxing - money talks. It's difficult to see how anyone competes with Alalshikh and his chequebook.

It will be successful because of the money behind it, although what fans will see is an even more fragmented version of the sport, with the new venture likely to create two leagues.

One will have a single champion and belt that fights only within its own stable, while the other will involve sanctioning bodies working with promoters not invited to do business with TKO.

Generally there will be more opportunities on a macro level for fighters, giving the boxers more leverage when they negotiate with promoters.

Although the UFC model might ring alarm bells for boxers.

MMA fighters have long looked for that big pay day generated by the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Mike Tyson.

UFC fighters have long complained about their pay and many former fighters with the company have broken into boxing post MMA to make a decent dollar, shining a light on what things can look like when the power and money is centralised.

The broken system of boxing peddled by the sanctioning bodies protects a lot of fighters as well, by never having them face off with another champion.

It's a rip off for fans but it's an easier route for fighters who might have more pull with their promoters outside the ring than their skills can sell in the ring.

That's why it might not be so easy to get fighters to switch over to the new start-up.

But if you have enough money in the bank - anything's possible.