TKO Saudi boxing league: When does UFC and WWE-backed league start and what does it mean for Eddie Hearn & Frank Warren?
THERE is a new major player in the sport of boxing who could end up changing the landscape of the sport forever.
Saudi bigwig Turki Alalshikh and The Ring Magazine have teamed up with the TKO Group – which owns the WWE and the UFC – to create a new boxing league.
And Alalshikh has enlisted the services of UFC supremo Dana White to run the promotion, which he believes will “crush” its rivals in the coming years.
The chairman of Saudi Arabia‘s General Entertainment Authority said: “If you want to fix boxing or any sport or doing some big project like this, we will not have any options better than Dana White.
“And when I see him in this hotel before, one year (ago), with our friend Nick (Khan, TKO board member), and we are talking about this … we go on back, and we have the same vision.
“And I trust (that) this league, in a short time, will crush everything.”
Alalshikh’s words have sent shockwaves across the boxing world, with promoters and sanctioning bodies now seriously sweating over their futures.
But what does the Saudi-backed league mean for the future of boxing?
SunSport is on hand to bring you everything we know so far about the potentially seismic shift in the noble art.
When will the league be officially launched?
An official date for the launch of the league – the name of which remains a mystery – has yet to be revealed.
Alalshikh, however, teased that an announcement will be made on September 12, the day before the eagerly anticipated showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.
During an appearance on ESPN, he said: “Ask [Dana] when the first event will be held in September. Ask him to answer… Maybe it’ll be September 12th.”
What will the format be?
Alalshikh has seemingly entrusted White to implement the highly successful and extremely profitable UFC format.
It’s unclear whether the MMA league’s model will translate to the world of boxing given the promotion’s often-criticised revenue split with fighters and No1-ranked combatants often being overlooked for title shots.
“There’s zero speculation on the format,” White said. “You know the format, and everybody knows the format.
“The best fight the best. You work your way up the rankings, and once somebody breaks into the top five, there’s no question who the best five guys in the world are in each weight class, and they fight it out.
“And then, once somebody holds that belt, you don’t need three letters in front of the belt.
“Whoever has that belt is the best in the world in that weight class. It’s a very simple model.”
Potential amendments to or the repealing of the Ali Act – which was introduced in 1999 to protect the welfare of fighters and eliminate anti-competitive practices in the sport – could end up working in favour of White and Co.
What does it mean for promoters?
Veteran promoters Bob Arum, Eddie Hearn, Oscar De La Hoya, Ben Shalom and Frank Warren will undoubtedly be thinking about their futures in the sport following the bombshell announcement.
But they won’t be going anywhere any time soon as they have most of the talent contractually locked up.
That means the TKO-backed league will initially need to work with Boxxer, Golden Boy, Matchroom, Top Rank and Queensberry Promotions.
Fighters, however, could opt to see out their contracts with their respective promoters and jump ship given the prestige The Ring Magazine belt holds and the promotional power the TKO Group possesses.
The biggest motivator for jumping ship, however, will be the astronomical paydays the Saudis have dished out in recent years.