Eddie Hearn is the most famous boxing promoter in the world. After all, his ‘Matchroom Boxing’ is the single most valuable boxing promotion in the world according to Forbes. However, its $850 million valuation is a fraction of the UFC’s $11.3 billion valuation. This might make lesser men jealous but that is not the case with Hearn. Well, he is jealous of the Dana White-led promotion, but for an entirely different reason- the amount of control the UFC exercises on its fighters.

“I’ve watched a couple [of UFC events], Dana kindly got me up. I think it’s [the UFC is] compelling. I think, you know, it’s just a tremendous product. I’m very jealous of the, almost like the control they have over their talent, where it’s like you sign a central contract and it’s like ‘right, you are fighting him on November 30th. See you there. And your money’s already there,'” the Englishman said on the PBD podcast on YouTube.

The UFC, as Hearn pointed out, works on a very different model than boxing promotions. After all, the MMA juggernaut agrees to multi-fight contracts with its fighters and has the final say on who, when, and where they have to fight. On the other hand, with boxing promotions, “it’s an individual negotiation for every fight and it’s incredible [hard].”

Boxers and their teams agree to individual contracts for every fight, which leaves a lot of room for negotiations. Of course, this means that boxers have a lot more power than UFC fighters, who usually get boilerplate contracts and cannot alter their terms until the current contract is up. This is also why boxers (at least the top ones) make a lot more money than their MMA counterparts. But that may be about to change as the UFC CEO has promised a foray into the boxing world soon.

How Dana White-led Zuffa Boxing could disrupt the boxing model

Dana White’s life is about to come full circle. The UFC CEO, of course, came into combat sports through boxing. The Las Vegas resident had once dreamed of being a professional boxer but changed his ways keeping in mind the punishment he would have to endure and the effects it may have on his long-term health. Instead, he became a boxercise instructor.

And now, he is planning to re-enter the fabled world of boxing and plans to establish a promotion called ‘Zuffa Boxing’, which will introduce the UFC model to the sport. This, of course, would be a huge departure from how boxing works today. Existing boxing promotions, after all, are just glorified management companies. Fighters signed to these promotions often fight opponents from other promotions, unlike MMA, where fighters fight within their own promotion exclusively.

Presumably, the UFC model would mean that ‘Zuffa Boxing’ will sign boxers to central contracts and make them fight other fighters in their divisions within the promotion, complete with divisional rankings and titles. This, of course, could solve one of the central problems of boxing which is uneven matchmaking.

After all, big boxing stars tend to hand-pick their opponents, often choosing the least risky prospects against whom they could make the maximum money. Many fighters rarely take 50/50 fights in an attempt to avoid taking a loss at any cost in what is called the ‘Floyd Mayweatherization of boxing’. But if the promoter gets to pick the opponent based on how competitive or entertaining a matchup is, that would change drastically.

And that is exactly why ‘Zuffa Boxing’ could disrupt the sport- by offering a superior product. What do you think about Eddie Hearn’s take on UFC contracts? Can we really witness a drastic shift in the present landscape of boxing? Tell us in the comment section below!