The new partnership between Alalshikh, Sela and TKO, will see White head up the day-to-day running of the promotion as its CEO, with WWE president and TKO board member Nick Khan also on the executive team.
The business plan is a straightforward one – replicate the success of the UFC, but for boxing. It’s a template that White knows well, having steered the UFC through a period of regulation, mainstream acceptance and the COVID-19 pandemic, to position the UFC as one of the most successful sports entities in the world over the past decade.
Now Alalshikh hopes that White can repeat the trick with boxing, with their new promotion set to follow a similar template to the one used by the UFC, and he predicts the the new league will take over the sport of boxing in short order.
“First of all, he’s not only the CEO now for UFC, he’s the CEO of the new company,” he explained.
“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.
“I trust (that) this league, in short time, will crush everything.”
The new venture gives White the chance to apply his UFC model to the sport of boxing, and he’s clearly itching to get started.
“I’m excited,” he said.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without boxing. The sport of boxing is where I started.
“I felt like it was something that could never be fixed, until this guy (Alalshikh) showed up. He has done more for boxing than any promoter in the history of the of the sport, combined.
“He has invested more money, more energy and more passion into this sport than, literally, ever.
“I didn’t know what to think when we first met. He and I became very close friends in a very short amount of time, and there aren’t a lot of people that I would do a deal like this with. There’s no people, actually. He’s the only guy, to be honest with you.
“So, what he’s done for the sport is incredible, and I’m looking forward to it.”
He also confirmed that there’s no secret about how he plans to approach the new promotion, as he looks to pit the best against the best to create definitive champions in each weight class and bypass the old-school, “alphabet titles” of the various sanctioning bodies of the sport.
“There’s zero speculation on the format,” he 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.”
Currently, the promotion does not have a confirmed name, though TKO Boxing may be the most likely. Further details, including fighter signings, event dates and locations, will be announced by the promotion in due course.
