The upcoming clash between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford has seen some drastic changes from the normal Turki Alalshikh-affiliated cards as it has been revealed it will be broadcasted on Netflix, while further being set to be promoted by UFC CEO Dana White. The card is set to be held at the Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders NFL team, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Furthermore, the event will no longer be held on Friday, September 12th as was initially reported, but now occur on Saturday, September 13th.
Either The Ring or Riyadh Season, both owned or headed by Turki Alalshikh, had been expected to be the upcoming card’s main sponsor yet in an odd blend of circumstances, Alalshikh appears set on using the September 13th bout to apparently set up this event to become organized by the promotion he has reportedly created alongside UFC CEO Dana White.
Though still nameless, but often referred to as TKO Boxing by the media due to TKO Group’s keen involvement, there is still not much known about this joint venture between Alalshikh and White. Based on information from White himself, the plan had been to form a promotion that could potentially challenge all the other major promotions in time by being built from the ground up. This suggested a lot more opportunities would arrive for relatively unknown, younger fighters who have yet to make a name in boxing.
This, however, now seems to be less of an objective after The Ring reported that instead of building from a core of relatively unproven fighters, the promotion will use the September 13th event and its headliners, Canelo Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KO’s) and Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s), to build its name.
As such, the event will be branded under the TKO Boxing brand, though there is yet to be an official name attached to White’s boxing promotion other than be referred to as TKO Boxing; which is just one of many issues already clouding the upcoming card.
The main issue is the clear deviation from what had originally been marketed as an original promotion looking to apply the UFC model the best it could by producing household names themselves, to now merely piggybacking off of well-known boxers’ reputation starting with Alvarez and Crawford. Given the magnitude of their bout, two pound-for-pound stars heading into a fight—with all of Alvarez’ super middleweight (168 lbs) titles on the line, thereby effectively making it an “undisputed” fight, makes “TKO Boxing” more so look like an opportunistic promotion backed by a blank cheque than a promotion looking to build itself from the ground up.
This is further evident by Turki Alalshikh himself having created a list of younger fighters who he wants to participate in the event but are already tied to other promotions, including Top Rank prospect Abdullah Mason (19-0, 17 KO’s), Junto Nakatani (31-0, 24 KO’s) who is with Teiken Promotions, and Christian M’billi (28-0, 23 KO’s) who is signed to the Eye of the Tiger Promotions.
Essentially, this only further blurs the lines of what TKO Boxing actually is. Is it just another sponsor in the same vein as The Ring or Riyadh Season who have organized their own shows? Or is this an actual promotion that will look to corral established or up-and-coming fighters into its ranks?
Additionally, will TKO Boxing even apply their earlier-stated intentions to build their own fighters rather than handpicking already well-known fighters from other promotions?
What does appear to be certain is that Netflix will be the exclusive broadcaster for this event; notably not ESPN, or DAZN or other well-established networks that have showcased boxing. Known for its very high customer base, Netflix has always been an untapped market for boxing that was only recently delved into by Jake Paul and Mike Tyson through their highly-controversial fight card last November.
Without a doubt, the upcoming Alvarez-Crawford bout should be much more enticing and genuine to the millions of Netflix subscribers and might even become standard for TKO Boxing if they plan to hold other shows.
Whether TKO Boxing is now or will be an actual promotion is also under question. Its attempts to try to alter the Ali Act not withstanding, it clearly does not appear to have the same credentials as other promotions having not a single known or unknown fighter on its roster.
From the looks it, TKO Boxing looks no different from The Ring or Riyadh Season who, while not officially able to operate as promotions, have clearly taken the reins when it comes to organizing and marketing their events.
Which only puts a dubious stamp on the nature of this event which, while significant, truthfully makes it a bit of a headscratcher given the brands that are said to be associated with this card. The mention of Sela being involved, an entertainment and hospitality company from Saudi Arabia, only further confounds the entire occasion, making the card almost appear as some sort of promotion for tourism in Saudi Arabia and a brand awareness campaign for TKO Group and its associated companies, including White’s UFC, rather than a genuine or organic boxing event.
