The battle between boxing’s old guard and the new kids on the block could be going legal.
According to a report in The Telegraph, Queensberry Promotions boss Frank Warren is preparing a lawsuit concerning the partnership between Saudi Arabia’s Sela and the TKO Group with Zuffa Boxing and his exclusion from it.
The hall of famer Warren, who has promoted the likes of Naseem Hamed, Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton and Frank Bruno, has been an important part of the Saudi Arabian excursion into boxing – some of his leading fighters, including Tyson Fury, Agit Kabayel and Hamzah Sheeraz, have become Riyadh Season staples.
The Sela-TKO-Zuffa group is incredibly powerful, with General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh, UFC head Dana White and WWE boss Nick Khan at the forefront of the major moves they are making.
They already have a broadcast deal, with Paramount+, and have been in talks with Sky Sports in the UK for another.
They have also signed cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia, and leading then-Matchroom fighter Conor Benn, to fight deals, and have around 100 fighters recruited after just a few shows. More top signings are expected, too.
The proposed $1billion lawsuit alleges that Sela and TKO both breached contracts they had signed with Warren and that their company was formed without him being involved.
Queensberry contends that, in 2023, they signed an agreement with Sela to provide boxing services for their shows, giving Sela access to how they operate and build shows from the ground up.
Recently, Matchroom Boxing has provided similar services, notably for the New York promotion topped by Teofimo Lopez-Shakur Stevenson.
The first link up for Queensberry with Saudi Arabia involved the crossover fight between Tyson Fury and MMA star Francis Ngannou.
That was in October 2023, and the British promotional company also claims that a contract between them and TKO was signed that gave TKO access to Queensberry’s contract with Sela.
Queensberry contend that information and the data was privileged and that the groups subsequently left Queensberry out, breaching their respective agreements.
It’s reported that Queensberry will seek $1billion for lost income and Warren, it is believed, is willing to take the battle to the High Court if a resolution cannot be reached.
The Telegraph reported that “Legal letters have been traded like jabs in the first round of a bout, and unless TKO and Sela throw in the towel, Mr Warren intends to take his case to the High Court”.
When news of White’s allegiance with Alalshkih broke, talking about a boxing league, Alalshikh said: “I trust [that] this league, in a short time, will crush everything.”
A Sela spokesperson told the British national newspaper that they were “disappointed” by the “unfounded claims” and they “reject them in their entirety”.
