Former British boxing star Amir Khan is all in on Dana White’s boxing takeover.
After helping turn the Ultimate Fighting Championship from a fledgling promotion into a global juggernaut, the UFC CEO is now determined to fix the sport of boxing by using the same model that helped make the UFC a multi-billion dollar business. Well, that and Turki Alalshikh’s seemingly endless supply of money.
Last month, White announced that he was getting into business with Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, to kickstart a new boxing promotion. Not many details have emerged since then, but the boxing world seems to be split down the middle when asked about White’s lofty goals in the sweet science.
However, there is one former boxing star who loves what White and Alalshikh are aiming to do. So much so that he himself would have gladly signed on the dotted line.
“Yes, I would have signed with Dana White and Turki Al-Shekih because I knew I was the best out there, and I wanted to progress and I wanted to fight the best out there,” Amir said in an interview courtesy of PokerFirma.
“My career is very similar to what the league wants to do with their fighters. I built myself up and then fought the best back to back. I took the hard route, and that’s what they want. And we’ll see now who has the balls to say ‘yes’ because overnight you will know who the real fighters are.”
Khan believes white and Alalskhikh will change boxing ‘in a big way’
One of the biggest changes that White’s promotion will make compared to others is that it will completely ignore the four major sanctioning bodies in professional boxing that award world titles and rank fighters, the WBA, WBO, IBF, and WBC.
Instead, White’s promotion will feature one champion per weight class with fighters rising through the ranks to challenge their division’s top dog, similar to how the UFC operates. White and Alalshikh will also focus on eight main weight classes, including focusing on eight main divisions: flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight.
The exact same weight classes that the UFC features in its men’s divisions.
“I understand why Turki brought in Dana White—because he saw what the UFC has done, how big it’s become over the last few years,” Khan continued. “The best are fighting the best, and they’re putting on the best shows. Now he wants the same model for boxing: the best fighting the best. I think with Turki, he’s going to make that happen. Getting Dana on board with him and involved in the promotion, I think they’re going to change boxing in a big way.
“Turki’s has given the promoters the biggest paychecks they’ve ever had. I remember hearing one paycheck to Usyk was around $115 million, for one fight. That’s ridiculous. Most fighters don’t make that in their entire careers. That’s crazy. But it shows Turki is serious—he’s not just talking, he’s backing it up with action. Now it’s time for him to really shake things up and make boxing a proper business. I think he’s going to take over.”
