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Promoter Eddie Hearn disagrees with Dana White and Turki Alalshikh’s view of “boxing being broken” and the way they may repair it with their new league, which they’re creating with a partnership. Hearn says boxing was “hot” earlier than Turki obtained concerned.
Fragmentation Danger
Eddie factors out that the UFC mannequin, Dana White says he’ll use on the brand new boxing league to create a dominating pressure that adjustments the game, received’t work. Boxing just isn’t MMA. It’s unattainable to develop the identical centralized league that controls boxing like Dana did with the UFC as a result of boxing is already established and fragmented.
When White created the UFC, MMA was nonetheless in its infancy. Dana is naive, believing what labored for him in a single sport will work in one other.
Turki’s monetary skill to lure the perfect expertise is the one factor that the brand new league has going for it. Nevertheless, getting the perfect fighters received’t assure that the brand new league will dominate. As we’ve seen for years, charisma is extra vital than expertise. Hearn and different promoters have fighters that can all the time be capable of promote attributable to their personalities if not their expertise.
The brand new league that Turki and White are creating alongside their very own belts will probably be no totally different from different promotional corporations that can nonetheless function. So as an alternative of 4 totally different sanctioning our bodies, there’ll now be 5, which is able to additional fragment the game like we’re seeing in MMA. In that sport, we now have these organisations:
– UFC– PFL– One Championship– Bellator MMA– Rizin Preventing Federation– Cage Warriors Preventing Championship– Legacy Preventing Alliance– Konfrontacja Sztuk Stroll
“I disagree with Dana [White] and His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] when he says ‘Boxing is broken.’ Boxing is not broken. It’s hotter than ever, and it was hot before His Excellency came in,” stated Eddie Hearn to iFL TV, reacting to Dana White and Turki Alalshikh creating a brand new promotion and planning to kind the TKO Boxing league.
“Boxing just isn’t MMA. The fashions don’t simply flick over to a different sport like that with its historical past, with its administration, with its purses significantly. It seems like TKO has taken ESPN’s dates from Prime Rank. Clearly, with ESPN and that platform, TKO has an amazing alternative to begin this league.
“I don’t think I’m deluded when I say, ‘I’m the best promoter in the world,’” stated Hearn when requested if Turki and Dana’s new TKO Boxing league threatens his firm. “For me, when you have a great business, have 35 shows a year outside of Riyadh Season, whether Riyadh Season is there or not, it doesn’t really matter to me.”
