In more than 25 years in boxing, it’s hard to recall a week as chaotic as this.
Storylines were advanced, relationships snapped, fights made, rivalries reunited and things have gone legal.
The backdrop of it all, of course, is the emergence of Zuffa Boxing, but boxing does boxing things regardless.
So here is a brief recap of events:
The whole fascinating thing – for the past week – started after Zuffa came in for Conor Benn. That sent shockwaves through the sport for those who are aware of what a high-value commercial signing he represents and how damaging, potentially, it was considering former promoter Eddie Hearn’s supposedly close relationship with Benn beforehand.
It seemed like it was advantage, Zuffa Boxing. But then other things started to happen. Wheels started to turn elsewhere, and those cogs rotated as more news came to light.
Is the ESPN and Top Rank marriage back on, for instance – following Brunch Boxing’s revelations about the behind-the-scenes machinations at work over there?
And PBC has managed to fund the Cinco de Mayo show featuring Gilberto Ramirez-David Benavidez on its own, seemingly without any Ring investment, which is a high-profile show.
Then there was the news that Floyd Mayweather Jnr versus Manny Pacquiao II is on for Las Vegas in September. It might (will) be a circus, but it will be a huge, high-profile circus – on Netflix, no less – seemingly without any Saudi Arabian or TKO involvement. Factor in Matchroom now having been burned and the Queensberry lawsuit, and the old guard seems to have kicked into some kind of gear – even if, completely unsurprisingly, it is not a cohesive or united movement.
There are plenty who would like to see a union between Golden Boy, PBC and Top Rank, where they go all-in with DAZN – which, by the way, also has Saudi Arabian investment, to the tune of $1 billion.
There are plenty, however, who believe that the end of this old-versus-new battle is a foregone conclusion, regardless of who is winning on points at present. More than one expert has said, “It’s already all over,” such is the strength of the forces behind the Sela-Zuffa-TKO union.
But there are also plenty who contend that, boxing being boxing, the situation will be too hard to manage, that there are too many cats to herd and that, although Zuffa might even become the major and most significant players in the sport, the other promoters will still be able to operate with or without it.
Matchroom recently announced a new five-year deal with DAZN, for instance, so it isn’t going anywhere.
Queensberry rolled out the WBO heavyweight title fight between Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois this week (tickets on sale Friday!), and that is one of the best fights that can be made in the sport.
As much as we like the action inside the ring and I might have preferred to be writing about the Eduardo Nunez-Emanuel Navarrete cracker this weekend, it is the political landscape that is proving so captivating at present.
You daren’t look away from your news providers or social media channels in case you miss something shocking or ground-breaking. And it is worth noting here that one of the best fights that could have been made – even though everyone knew it was coming – was formally announced this week, with Naoya Inoue ready to take on Junto Nakatani in May.
What a week to bury good news.
It is hard to know what will happen next.
Of course, there is speculation about further Zuffa signings – like Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, too – but they are both in their late 30s and at the tail end of their careers. So although they will carry instant clout, they cannot be part of a long-term vision.
Of course, in that respect, Shakur Stevenson would move the needle more, and that signing would seem nailed on.
Yet it is also worth noting that those fighters leaving the status quo now will be – or should be – fully aware of the intentions to regulate pay scales under one umbrella structure (like the UFC), as we have been led to believe is the plan all along. Those fighters now taking the big money are the ones who will be hurting the opportunities for fighters to make megabucks in the future. Not that they will care. It is all too rare for anyone but a handful of well-meaning individuals to view this sport through the prism of the greater good, though it was good to see Stevenson talking about the importance of VADA testing on the DAZN broadcast last weekend.
It's strange how so many behave like VADA is a pariah, but the real ones know it’s designed to protect the fighters from cheats, and should be used as such by clean fighters.
Whatever, there have long been quiet murmurings about how UFC fighters would feel if Dana White’s boxing brainchild started paying big-time boxers big-time purses, and the first signs of discontent have been made known. Obviously, it was low-hanging fruit for boxing’s promoters to stir the pot – asking how UFC fighters will feel when the boxers are paid typical boxers’ wages – but the $15 million fee told to Dan Rafael for Conor Benn’s first purse for Zuffa Boxing has sent early ripples.
TKO has moved to explain that the tab is being picked up by Turki Alalashikh, but Michael Page and Sean O’Malley have already discussed their disapproval.
“I can’t imagine it being true Zuffa Boxing is like they're paying out,” said O’Malley. “I don’t even know who Conor Benn is. He’s supposed to be a pretty big name in boxing, but I’ve never fucking heard of him.”
Page added: “It’s not something I’m happy about. … But to see it and how highly [White] values people away from the sport that built his reputation, it’s just upsetting, to be fair. It’s disappointing, more than anything.”
Then there was an implosion on X Wednesday night, “credibility” was lost (again), and we gather ourselves for the next instalment of what’s to come on this evolving and explosive landscape.
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When I wrote on X this week that the September rematch between Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao is on in 2026 because 2015 wasn’t late enough, I didn’t realize readers would think I was trying to come up with a tagline. But if the cap fits?
From 2009 to 2014, all I seemed to write about was Mayweather and Pacquiao not fighting one another, and now I don’t have the energy to address why they shouldn’t box again.
From a boxing standpoint, I’m loathe to get into how it all might unfold should they actually be standing across from one another at the Sphere on September 19, but I actually reckon it’s a more even fight now than it was in 2015 – while also knowing, historically, that Mayweather is better in rematches.
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
