TKO Boxing Acquires Promoter’s License

TKO Boxing has acquired a promoter’s license in Nevada, allowing Dana White to promote Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford.

The Nevada Athletic Commission voted unanimously to approve TKO’s license. UFC regulatory veteran Marc Ratner and TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer were both present at the commission meeting, signalling the promotion’s serious intent to enter the boxing space. The news confirms the official launch of Zuffa Boxing—a new boxing promotion under the TKO umbrella. The financial backing comes from the General Entertainment Fund, overseen by Turki Alalshikh. 

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“I would just tell you that we’re expecting with the boxing organization that we’re putting on an average of call it 12 fights a year, 12 cards a year for each of the next five years. Still putting that plan together and obviously working hand in hand with our friends from Saudi.

“Irrespective of those, we will look to do anywhere from one to four sort of superfights per year, we’ll see how that plays out. But obviously we would term the Canelo/Crawford September matchup as one of those. And then on that undercard, we would have a number of those undercard fights that would likely air on the television partner/media partner we would have for our newly formed boxing organizations,” Mark Shapiro (TKO President and CEO)

The Future

The Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford promises to offer much. Canelo will defend his Undisputed Super Middleweight Title, while Crawford moves up two weight classes in an attempt to become a three-weight undisputed champion. White previously helped promote Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor in 2017. However, that was a crossover fight with Mayweather expected to win. The Canelo-Crawford fight is much more competitive, as fans wait to see TKO’s direction in boxing.

“We’re thrilled to now be an official promoter…. Our first event will be Sept. 13 with ‘Bud’ Crawford and Canelo, which is going to be the biggest fight in the history of the state of Nevada. Next year, we’ll be doing a lot of fights here in a little smaller, obviously, basis. … We’re planning on 12 to 15 fights (in 2026) with the majority here in Las Vegas. These will be smaller fights, more like the Contender (Series). We’re looking for people just in the beginning of their careers and building them up. So it’ll be much smaller than that. This will be good for the boxers,” Ratner said