From Octagon to Ring: Dana White Makes Blockbuster Boxing Debut With Canelo-Crawford Pairing

UFC President Dana White has taken jabs at boxing for nearly two decades, describing it as “a broken sport” plagued by bad business practices, self-absorbed promoters, and too many fighters calling themselves champions.Now, backed by Saudi money, a Netflix partnership, and his personal and professional brand, Mr. White is stepping into the squared circle, starting with one of the most anticipated matchups in years.The mixed-martial arts mogul has partnered with Saudi power broker Turki Alalshikh to promote Saturday’s super-fight between two of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the sport – Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford – at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.Mr. Crawford (41-0 with 31 knockouts) is an undisputed champion at 140 and 147 pounds. The native of Omaha, Nebraska, is jumping weight classes to fight for the undisputed 168-pound belt owned by Mr. Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico.Netflix will livestream the bout to its subscribers. Mr. Alvarez, 35, will reportedly earn $120 million for the scheduled 12-rounder, while Mr. Crawford’s guarantee is $10 million.“Are you kidding me?” Mr. White said recently. “The first boxing fight I get to promote is Canelo vs. Crawford? It’s literally a once in-a-lifetime fight.”Over the last 25 years, Mr. White has turned his $2 million purchase of UFC into a multi-billion dollar business that sells out arenas throughout the world. He has the same vision for boxing. A close friend of President Trump, Mr. White formed Zuffa Boxing and said he has signed 60 to 70 mostly young prospects. Starting in 2026, he plans to create the boxing version of the Contender Series, a reality show that features prospects fighting to make a name for themselves.“I will build stars, put on great fights, and these guys will graduate and fight with Turki,” Mr. White said.Saturday’s fight card on Netflix is Mr. White’s second venture into boxing. He served as a co-promoter for a crossover fight between boxer Floyd Mayweather and UFC champion Conor McGregor in 2017. The unique bout generated 4.3 million pay-per-view buys.Mr. White re-enters boxing at a time when the landscape is crowded with celebrity-driven exhibitions. While Canelo-Crawford is a legitimate boxing match between two Hall of Fame-bound boxers, an exhibition bout set for the spring of 2026 will pit a former heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson, against Mr. Mayweather.It could be a tough sell. Mr. Tyson, 59, looked old and tired in his first professional fight in 19 years against YouTube influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul last November, while Mr. Mayweather, 48, has had multiple underwhelming exhibition bouts since retiring from competitive boxing in 2017.“You already know that if I am going to do something, it’s going to be big and it’s going to be legendary,” Mr. Mayweather said in a release. “I’m the best in the business of boxing. This exhibition will give the fans what they want.”Mr. Paul is offering his fans more of the unusual. He announced plans to fight a former lightweight champion, Gervonta Davis, in November in another matchup between boxers of different weight classes.The proliferation of meaningless fights is why Mr. White calls boxing “a busted sport” that needs to develop boxers instead of promoting one-off events. “There’s no ego or arrogance when I talk about getting into boxing and trying to fix it,” he said recently. “I know it’s broken. Now I’m going to show you how it should be done.”He’ll remain president of the UFC, and confirmed plans are underway to present an MMA card at the White House as part of the United States 250th birthday celebration.Only 5,000 spectators will be allowed on the lawn due to security concerns, Mr. White said. But a connected park has room for 85,000 to watch the event on big screens and take part in a festival featuring combat sports and entertainment.

From Octagon to Ring: Dana White Makes Blockbuster Boxing Debut With Canelo-Crawford Pairing

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