TKO’s confrontational entry into boxing via Zuffa Boxing has ruffled many feathers and angered many, including WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.
Zuffa Boxing co-founder Dana White last year announced ambitious plans for a boxing alliance that would exclude the sport’s four major sanctioning bodies and rival promoters and exclusively encompass boxing’s original eight weight classes. Although the plans have yet to be fully realized, Suleiman is not happy with the powerful company’s plans to exclude his 60-year-old organization.
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Suleiman went on Uncrown’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” this week to detail his thoughts on Zuffa and his experience with them so far.
“[Zuffa] “We have taken some actions that are very difficult to understand,” Suleiman said.
“When they announced the partnership last year [between White, Saudi Arabian fight financier Turki Alalshikh and WWE President Nick Khan]the WBC immediately came out and said, ‘Welcome to boxing. We hope this is good for the sport. Anything involving boxing, we welcome and support it. And they keep changing – so radically. …bullying. I was treated so badly in Las Vegas [for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford, where TKO was the lead promoter].
“Me and three other organizations – WBO, WBA, IBF – were not even given credentials. We were told we couldn’t come into the ring. We weren’t allowed in the locker room. We weren’t allowed at the commission desk. When we go to the fight, we go to work. It’s not a vacation or fun, and it’s not like fans or reporters go to the fight, we’re there to work. They’re fighting for our championship. For four fighters, this fight is for the undisputed belt, which is very, very disappointing.”
WBC rules stipulate that during a fight for the WBC title, the president is entitled to a suite, front-row tickets, certificates, access to the ring, and a sufficient number of tickets, among other things. Although TKO provided Suleiman with a hotel room, Suleiman explained that he believed he needed a suite because a regular hotel room would not be enough for him to hold meetings with key boxing figures in Las Vegas.
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Suleiman was also initially told that he would not be allowed into the ring after the main event so that he could deliver the WBC title to Crawford as was customary, but Suleiman insisted on entering the ring anyway. He complained that by sitting with the general public watching the fights rather than sitting in the technical area – where officials can observe instant replay technology and the like – he was unable to perform his job as WBC fight supervisor.
“Trying to portray me as arrogant or demanding is a low-level act,” Suleiman said.
“How low can you go to use that as ammunition instead of talking about boxing?”
Considering Zuffa’s long-term plans to create his own belt, it’s not surprising that the company tried to ignore and belittle the sanctioning body before taking action. For example, when Zuffa signed Jai Opetaia, there was no mention of his status as IBF lightweight world champion.
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Although White entered the sport as an anti-belt, he has since somewhat walked back those comments, insisting that he will not stand in the way of Zuffa fighters achieving their long-held dream, which in Opetaia’s case is to hold all four sanctioned belts as the undisputed lightweight champion.
“I feel very sorry for Callum Walsh,” Suleiman said of Zuffa’s attitude towards the belt. “He’s the WBC Continental Champion and before that he was the WBC United States Champion. Incredibly good kid that I’ve seen many times – his dream is to be the WBC [world] champion. His social media is filled with videos of him belting and pushing, saying it’s a dream, blah, blah, blah.
“Now he’s there [Zuffa] Alliance, he has to fight at middleweight because they don’t have a super welterweight and he doesn’t look good [against Carlos Ocampo at Zuffa Boxing 1] —I don’t know if he can make it as a middleweight. So the example of Callum Walsh – I feel sorry for him. “
TKO is trying to push the Muhammad Ali Restoration Act through Congress so it can create a “unified boxing organization” without having to adhere to the principles set out by the original Muhammad Ali Reform Act. This would allow Zuffa to award his own belts, like the UFC does, without having to disclose earnings to fighters.
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The Guardian reported last week that Zuffa’s deal with Paramount+ is for $100 million per year for 12 fight nights, meaning the rights fee could be more than $8 million per card. The first two shows are already booked, with the third set to air on February 15, so it’s understandable that Zuffa doesn’t want fighters to realize that they’re getting a small percentage of the company’s revenue.
“[The Ali Reform Act was created] Mainly to protect the fighters in the United States,” Suleiman said. “Having representation with their managers, requiring full transparency and disclosure from promoters, protecting a wall between promoters and boxing committees, promoters and managers, promoters and organizations to protect the fighters and reduce the possibility of any inappropriate behavior. The WBC is required to disclose any sanction fees charged, as well as any changes in our rankings when we change fighters each month. Every year we submit a report to the government [Association of Boxing Commissions].
“For the most part, it gives the fighters the opportunity to make the most money. They have the opportunity to choose between promoters and managers in the free market. So everything that’s being tried to be brought in [by Zuffa is to take away that ability]. MMA does not have to abide by the Muhammad Ali Act. This is why the UFC controls television, sponsorships, [the fighter’s] Managers, promoters, rankings, titles – everything is a universe. …. About 80% of the revenue goes to the fighters [in boxing] 20% goes to the promoter, which is very, very different from MMA. “
While most of the money goes to boxing talent, the opposite is believed to be true in MMA. White has long talked about boxing’s “broken” business model, in which each event is essentially a “going out of business sale” as promoters try to maximize revenue for fighters from each fight rather than reinvesting that revenue in building the sport’s infrastructure.
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Zuffa Boxing Shows also do not allow boxers to have sponsors on their swimming trunks or strike apparel, as they are required to wear Zuffa uniforms, which deprives boxers of another source of income.
Overall, Suleiman was dissatisfied with Zuffa’s approach to boxing and how it differed from traditional sports.
“There’s no need to be so arrogant and aggressive and say, ‘I’m that guy, I’m that guy,'” Suleiman said. “Boxing and the UFC are a completely different world. Here, it’s about the boxer… [MMA]it is not. it is [about the UFC]it’s about money. I don’t like the arrogant way, the bullying way, the aggressive way – it’s not necessary. They have enormous power, billions.
“They claim there is no sanction fee in Zuffa. Of course there is no sanction fee because they take all the money. It’s ridiculous. It’s very basic stuff. If you compare one to the other, it’s not apples to apples.”