“Make boxing great again!” It was the motto that pushed Dana White to start thinking of ways to fix boxing. And the one major step was thinking of venturing into becoming a boxing promoter. After promoting the fight between Callum Walsh and Przemyslaw Runowski in Ireland, the UFC CEO made his first footing in the realm of the squared ring. During the press conference for DWCS season 8, he told the reporters, “I did my first fight in Ireland and we’ll start announcing stuff here [at the] beginning of 2025.” And it seems like the announcement is almost here. Well, he did commit to the plans of diving into the boxing world by saying “I’m in.” But now, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel has given his confirmation regarding the plans. 

On 7 February 2025, Emanuel made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. Therein, he addressed the talks about Endeavor and the TKO group entering the world of boxing. He confirmed, “We’re starting to talk about boxing.” When McAfee wanted to confirm if it was a plan that Emanuel wanted to take on with White, he affirmed that the team was looking into it. But it was the Ali Act that made the discussion serious. 

It was when McAfee asked if Emanuel and White’s plans had the potential to revive boxing that the Endeavor CEO replied, “I think he got the Ali act that I think hurt it. Hopefully, who knows what’s gonna happen with the Ali act? And then Dana has got a plan for boxing. We’ll see. You know, there’s a lot of work, a lot of wood that’s got to be chopped there, but we’re looking at it pretty seriously.”

Well, the Ali Act was put on to lawfully ensure that the boxers were protected on a few terms. It ensures that the promoters divulge the revenue to fighters. Second, it creates a limitation to the time period for which the promoters can hold the fighters under contract. And finally, separate the title belts and rankings from the promoters. While Ali Act has yet to step into the MMA world, it was kind of a hurdle for someone who wanted to start promoting boxing bouts. But Dana White seemed ready with a plan. 

Dana White shares his plans regarding his venture into boxing

Following the successful event with the fight between Walsh and Runowski in Ireland, the UFC head honcho seemed confident that he could provide the fighting community with an innovation to revive boxing and make it great again. During a DWCS press conference, White said, “I have a plan. I’m going to implement that plan and we’ll see how it works. We’ll see how this thing works. People have been talking about the demise of boxing for 30 years and we’re still here talking about boxing right now… I have always had an idea of how I thought it should be done. I don’t know if that’s possible, but we’re going to find out. I’m coming in guns blazing.”

The boxing community greatly appreciated this move. Even Mike Tyson claimed that it was going to be the best thing to happen to boxing. He compared things with the UFC, pointing out that if the crowd booed a fighter, they’d get to see less of his fights. And that’s something that had the potential to push boxing to greater heights. 

Nevertheless, we still have to wait a bit before White finally makes his announcement regarding his stance on boxing. And if he does finally step into the squared rings as a promoter, we’d definitely witness some action-packed events. It’s going to be full of cheers banging the arena, don’t you agree?

Do you think White can revive boxing and make it as successful of a venture as UFC? Drop down to the comments below and keep the conversation flowing.