"Boxing's reliance on multiple sanctioning bodies has created a 'rinky-dink' environment that confuses fans." That was the diagnosis with which Dana White opened the Zuffa Boxing era in 2026. This is not just another promotion. It is a centralised platform built to replace boxing's scattered, fragmented model with the kind of tight structure White imposed on the UFC. TKO Group Holdings holds 40% of the venture, while Sela, a company owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, controls the remaining 60%, giving the project financial backing few rivals can match. In place of the usual chaos, where four major bodies run their own rankings, Zuffa offers a single belt and just eight weight classes.
That ambition runs straight into the sport's legal foundations. White and his team are actively pushing to change the Muhammad Ali Act, and critics — Oscar De La Hoya among them — warn it could hand Zuffa a monopoly. The numbers, though, tell another side of the story. The exclusive annual deal with Paramount+, worth $100 million, covers 12 events a year. The terms are hard on the fighters and even claim rights to their digital likenesses, yet some boxers have seen their pay quadruple. The ring is changing for good, and the tug-of-war between old-school freedom and corporate order is reaching its peak.
The next chapter arrives on 26 July 2026 in New York, at the Infosys Theater inside Madison Square Garden. In the Zuffa Boxing 9 main event, the "chosen one" Edgar Berlanga (23-2) looks to get back on track against the explosive Canadian Steven Butler. The co-main is a styles clash between the unbeaten Richardson Hitchins and Ricardo Salas. The main card also pits Jalil Hackett against the veteran Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Filling out the night are Otto Wallin vs Vladyslav Sirenko, Emiliano Moreno vs Arnold Gonzalez, Kashaun Davis vs Mihai Nistor, Troy Nash vs Ethan Perez and Dominique Francis vs Andres Sosa. Boxing "was created broken and will die broken," Mike Tyson once put it — and Zuffa is trying to tear up exactly that verdict.
