The promoter Eddie Hearn says that Turki Alalshikh and Dana White’s plan to have a division champion in all sport would prevent many combatants from having the opportunity to fight for a belt. Turki and White’s plan is not a solution to save the sport. It will get worse.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Race Fele
With only one champion, the contestants would take time to obtain shots for the title, especially if there are repeated remakes as we are seeing with Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. The contestants’ races freeze while waiting for them to shoot in a title, age and lose.
Turki’s idea of having a weight division champion will prove the sport, preventing many combatants from fighting the belts and capturing them. What could further damage sport is to allow fighters to upload multiple divisions to omit the line to fight for a world title without competing in that kind of weight.
Line jump
That is what Turki is preparing for Terence Crawford to move from 154 to jump in front of the contestants in 168 to challenge Canelo Álvarez for his Super medium weight titles of WBA, WBC and WBO. It is so unfair for the combatants who compete in 168. If Turki continues to do things like that in the future, having a division belt will be cancer for the combatants who compete in their league. The fighters are supposed to be the same, but as we see here, Some are more equal than others. Will this be the norm for the new Turki League?
“A boxing belt is not revolutionary. It has been discussed many times. So far, we have not had the financial fire power so that it happens so far, ”said Eddie Hearn to Fight Hub TVReacting to Turki Alalshikh and Dana White’s plan for only one belt for division in sport.
Turki has the money to try to change the sport so that there is a belt, his, for a weight class, but is not realistic without the four sanctioning organisms that leave the business. He would require not only that, but also for all promoters outside their company to give up.
The only thing Turki and Dana White can do is fragment the sport more, with their league. They will probably go to the talented fighters who develop other promoters, allowing them to do hard work and then offer them great money to come to their league.
In other words, tHey would be like wolvesobserving combatants outside your company and looking to bring them. Even doing that, they could not create a belt that is recognized as the only one. Sport would be as fragmented as now, but more.
Fight for the title?
“I would not underestimate the value of the World Championship belt, the four belts (IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO) to a fighter. The legacy and history that comes, and the fact that their heroes had those belts around their waist.
“In addition, sometimes, when there is only one champion, other people don’t really have the opportunity to fight for a world championship belt. I am really a great believer to discover who is the best. So, if there is a way to do that, I am also in favor.
“I don’t think it’s broken (boxing), but when people talk about a solution, it is certainly not a quick solution. With his excellence and his financial fire power, maybe that can happen on time, ”said Hearn.
Last update on 07/07/2025