Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council, warns that the UFC's push into boxing could reshape the sport. He criticizes legal changes that let the UFC promote boxing events and objects to their involvement in the Canelo vs. Crawford fight, while noting tensions between the UFC's American business model and boxing's traditional structures.
As president of the World Boxing Council, they're saying that I can't get in the ring. So who's going to put the belt on the winner? So I told them, well, as long as you have two or three security guards in the corner, really sharp to get me out, because I'm going to get in the ring. Now there's a movement coming that wants to change the law in the United States so that the UFC can do boxing. And that's a hot topic because all the laws that limit current promoters from being able to be more successful in their business because they limit them to protecting the boxer. Now the UFC is going to be able to do it in boxing, only them. Right now I'm going to the Canelo Crawford fight. And that fight is the result of 14 years of Canelo as world champion, 12 years of Crawford as world champion. I mean, they're one of those big fights. And it turns out that the promoter is the ufc, a subsidiary company of theirs, the same people, and they've already started putting up a bunch of things like saying, I can't get in the ring. As president of the World Boxing Council, they're saying that I can't get in the ring. So who's going to put the belt on the winner? I mean, those are insults. What's the purpose? So that Dia White is the one up there, and he's the one on the show. So I told them, well, as long as you have two or three strong security guards in the corner to take me out, because I'm going to get in the ring. So let's see what happens. It's childish, but very American. Right. A terrible class, because if you ask Canelo and Crawford, they're boxing people, and they're very grateful to the organizations that, thanks to those belts, they've been able to reach these levels. Where's the fight? In Las Vegas, at the upcoming stadium in Saudi Arabia. Right. The last fight was in Saudi Arabia over there in Riyadh. But then the issue of the Arabs in the UFC is a very big challenge, but we're there. It's against Emporius Multum. Have you ever spoken to Dina White? Yes, I know her. The last time they talked, I sent her a message when she had a personal problem. Did you hear that she slapped her wife? I don't think it was in Cabo San Lucas one New Year's Eve. Someone was recording him. He was in a suite up there, and you can see them arguing, and he slapped his wife. So they were finishing it off on social media, and I sent her a message. I'm very sorry about what happened. I hope there are no family problems. She answered me, well, he comes from boxing and did very well in the ufc. Yes, he knew how to do it as a business, but there's a big difference there. What it is is a lot of this very American culture of business. First at the expense of everything, right? Of the show of everything. And here the problem is that it's obvious that the athlete is the one who's going to suffer. It's clear that the UFC fighters are against the way the scheme is, but there they are. They just made a settlement, a lawsuit.
