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Zuffa Boxing
American boxing promotional company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Zuffa Boxing is a planned professional boxing promotion company founded by CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Dana White and Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Turki Al-Sheikh. The promotion is ran through a partnership of Sela and TKO Group Holdings (TKO), and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.[1]
The promotion is scheduled to promote its inaugural event, a fight between Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford, on September 13, 2025, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.[2]
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In August 2017, following the high-profile boxing match between MMA fighter Conor McGregor and boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., Dana White announced his intention to enter the world of professional boxing under the "Zuffa Boxing" brand.[3] White suggested that the existing boxing promotion landscape was "broken" and needed a centralized, promoter-driven model similar to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), of which White was then president. Despite media attention and the sale of branded merchandise, Zuffa Boxing's launch was repeatedly delayed.[4][5]
On June 18, 2025, Dana White officially announced that the UFC's parent company TKO Group Holdings (TKO) would enter the boxing industry under the Zuffa Boxing name, reviving the brand White had originally teased in 2017. The announcement was made public through an interview with Sports Business Journal in which White reiterated that Zuffa Boxing aimed to apply the UFC's promotional model to professional boxing.[6] The branding of TKO's boxing venture as "Zuffa Boxing" was confirmed by additional outlets the following day.[7][8]
Shortly after the announcement, it was revealed that TKO would be the lead promoter of the super middleweight fight between Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford, scheduled for September 13, 2025, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The bout, which will stream globally via Netflix, was organized in partnership with Saudi entertainment company Sela with the backing of Turki Al-Sheikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia. On June 23, 2025, The Ring Magazine formally announced that the Canelo vs. Crawford fight would serve as the inaugural event under the Zuffa Boxing banner.[9][10]
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Events
On June 23, 2025, it was announced that the new boxing promotion partnership between Turki Al-Sheikh, TKO, and Sela will be under the "Zuffa Boxing" name.[11] The inaugural Zuffa Boxing event will be Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford – Once In A Lifetime on September 13, 2025 at Allegiant Stadium.
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