UFC President Dana White has publicly taken credit for the last two high-profile boxing events: the megafight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, and the recent showdown between Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford. However, according to renowned boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, White’s version of events is far from accurate.
Following Canelo’s clash with Crawford, White claimed he was the driving force behind promoting that bout as well as the Mayweather-McGregor spectacle. Hearn immediately pushed back, challenging White’s narrative and clarifying that he was merely a guest involved in the process, not the primary promoter.
One of them was Mayweather-McGregor. That’s not one of the biggest fights in the history of boxing. That’s an exhibition fight as far as I’m concerned, and Canelo vs. Crawford isn’t even his fight. It’s Turki Alalshikh’s fight. He got invited to be the promoter,” Hearn said bluntly, pointing out that the true architect behind the event was Saudi advisor Turki Alalshikh.
Hearn went on to stress that, despite White’s comments, there is no personal animosity between them.
As I said, I don’t think we’re going to be going backwards and forwards. He also said he respects me and he likes me a lot, and the feeling is very mutual… I saw in an interview that he said, ‘Eddie Hearn said [his new promotion] won’t work.’ I never said that. I said I think the league can work, but I don’t think he’s anything different. I don’t think he’s going to revolutionize the sport. So yeah, I look forward to the challenge.
Dana White’s plan to revolutionize boxing
For his part, White has been vocal about his ambition to shake up the boxing industry. While Turki Alalshikh’s promotional empire has been behind some of the biggest fights in recent years, White is preparing to expand his own footprint in the sport.
White revealed that in 2026 he will launch a new series of events he calls the “Contending Series,” aimed at providing competitive, high-stakes matchups from top to bottom on each card. His goal, he says, is to create a product that engages fans from the opening fight of the night rather than just the main event.
Basically, in 2026, I’m going to start my show, and what I’m going to do is basically like ‘Contender Series.’ The best will fight the best, undefeated guys will fight undefeated guys, and what you will do is you will care about the first fight of the night, and not just the main event. So I will build stars, put on great fights, and then these guys will graduate and fight with Sheik Turki… Listen, there’s no ego or arrogance when I talk about getting into boxing and trying to ‘fix it.’ This is a busted sport.
White’s vision stems from the overwhelming success of the two blockbuster events he was associated with. However, boxing remains a vastly different world from the UFC and mixed martial arts. The sport faces unique challenges, including deep-rooted promotional politics, fractured titles, and long-standing rivalries among governing bodies.
Hearn’s comments suggest that while White’s entry could add excitement and competition to the sport, it will not necessarily lead to a fundamental transformation of boxing’s complex structure.
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