Massive news has broken out across the boxing world as General Entertainment Authority (GEA) chairman Turki Alalshikh and UFC CEO Dana White have been confirmed to be collaborating to form a new boxing promotion that may change the face of boxing for decades to come. Despite this announcement, a name for the promotion itself has not yet emerged.
Described as a “landmark partnership“, there are notably two companies who have proven instrumental into the creation of this promotion; TKO Group Holdings, Inc., best known as the owner of the UFC and WWE, and Sela ― a Saudi company described by Wikipedia as an “entertainment and hospitality company specializing in experiences, events, and destinations in Saudi Arabia“.
While White’s affiliations with TKO are known, given he is the president of the UFC owned by TKO, Alalshikh’s connections with Sela are relatively unclear but seem linked to his responsibilities as the head of Riyadh Season and connections to the government.
Sela itself is owned in turn by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) which is ran by chairman Mohammed bin Salman ― the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Naturally, these connections between Alalshikh and Sela signify there will be an abundance of funds into this new promotion. It has further been involved in several events sponsored by Riyadh Season, particularly the Crawford vs. Madrimov and Joshua vs. Dubois fight cards.
The announcement of this new venture came accompanied with excessive flowery language painting the promotion as a gamechanger, as evident from statements from Turki Alalshikh and others: “This landmark partnership between industry powerhouses sets the stage for an unparalleled experience for boxers and fans.
“Together, we are developing the next generation of talent and delivering world-class events at a time when the sport is primed for further disruption.”
President of TKO, Mark Shapiro, appeared similarly optimistic in his public statement surrounding the new promotion: “This is a strategic opportunity to reimagine the sport of boxing globally.
“TKO has the deep expertise, promotional prowess, and longstanding relationships. HE [His Excellency] Turki Alalshikh and Sela share our passion and vision for evolving the current model. Together, we can bring the sweet science back to its rightful place in the forefront of the global sports ecosystem.“
Despite the optimism of this yet-to-be-named promotion, the exact details surrounding the promotion fails to expand on how it will be as groundbreaking as described, though it is evident there appears to be a substantial amount of effort put into forming this promotion.
Notable are mentions towards the current model in boxing which this new promotion is aiming to overturn. As Boxing Vault has illustrated on countless occasions, boxing is a hotbed for corruption with officials, fighters and promotions all having contributed to a sort of “Wild West” environment that often leads to monthly controversies ― from dubious scorecards to witch hunts, making boxing undoubtedly one of the most corruptible sports in the world.
The idea of this new promotion, which will be jointly headed by UFC president Dana White and Turki Alalshikh, is apparently aiming to structure and organize boxing to prevent cases of corruption ― which could be interpreted as hypocritical given Alalshikh’s involvement in a boxing match several weeks ago. White is also not unscrupulous, having most recently been accused of favoritism by France’s athletic commission following an event held in Paris.
TKO is currently also undergoing its own battles having been accused by a lawsuit detailing multiple allegations ranging from corruption to other illegal or questionable activities. As the president of the UFC, Dana White has been implicated in the same lawsuit.
This collaboration effort also lends precedence to earlier rumored plans out of Saudi Arabia to form a boxing league in order to achieve the needed goals to better the boxing landscape.
However, there is the fact that this new promotion will take time to build. Speculatively, it will draw from a pool of established fighters, though not necessarily the most popular or decorated, and prospects to fill its roster and then seek to build the profiles of its fighters gradually over the next years while continuing to market their promotion as the best alternative.
Incidentally, this would put this new promotion at odds with other well-established promotions that have been around for decades and are synonymous with boxing, including the likes of Matchroom, Top Rank and Queensberry Promotions.
This is further suggested by the statement of Sela’s managing director, Dr. Rakan Alharthy, who emphasized how sustainability would play a key role in ensuring this promotion would have lasting impact on boxing: “This partnership between HE Turki Alalshikh, Sela, and TKO will turn the page on a new chapter in boxing history.
“Together, we will elevate the sport to new heights and redefine the fan experience for a worldwide audience. The promotion will create a sustainable future for boxing and reinforce Sela’s position as a powerhouse in global sports and entertainment.”
In essence, the venture between Dana White and Turki Alalshikh appears to be more so of a coup, rather than an extra addition to the sport of boxing, which is bound to cause a number of issues and concerns in the sport. Given their language suggests changing the boxing landscape, it is not unfeasible that other promotions now fall at risk of being met with staunch competition by this newcomer which will be fully backed by the PIF.
The Public Investment Fund is notably also responsible for the creation of Liv Golf, a competition in the sport of golfing that is currently challenging the status quo of well-established golf competitions such as the global-recognized PGA Tour.
Further small details suggest that there will be heavy investment into promotion, production and development ― with fighters signed to the promotion gaining access to the UFC’s training facilities, for example ― that none of the other promotions are able to compete against.
This could also affect the global streaming service of DAZN who has managed to acquire at least three major promotions over the past couple of years in an effort to expand; though this is dependent on whether the new promotion will collaborate with DAZN.
The four main sanctioning bodies’ [WBA, WBC, WBO & IBF] position may also be under threat if this new promotion would begin establishing their own titles and rules, similar to how the UFC has built their name off of creating competition through their belts and effective promotion.
Over the course of the next couple weeks and months, further details will emerge surrounding the promotion and its exact goals and plans ― with a name for the promotion also expected to be established in the near future.
