Turki Al-Sheikh and Dana White break up with serious consequences for TKO Group

The alliance between Turki Al-Sheikh and Dana White promised to be a revolution in the boxing world. They hadn’t even organized a single fight yet, and it already seems like there’s a fallout. The Arab sheikh removed the UFC CEO from the promotion of the bout between Canelo Álvarez (63-2-2, 39 KO) and Terence Crawford (41-0-0, 31 KO). He also changed the fight’s date from Friday the 12th to Saturday the 13th, now overlapping with UFC 320, which will take place in Mexico.

An unexpected split in the middle of boxing’s supposed transformation. One of the biggest criticisms of boxing is that the best rarely fight the best—something that does happen in the UFC. Of course, it’s a mistake to compare an entire sport like boxing to a single MMA company. While boxing is regulated by various organizations and promoters, the UFC is entirely run by its president. The union of Dana White and Turki Al-Sheikh seemed poised to bring boxing under a similar structure, but things have taken a dramatic turn.

White, through his TKO Group, was set to promote the Canelo vs Crawford fight, where the Mexican will defend his undisputed super middleweight title—a bout many consider a strong candidate for Fight of the Year. White even appeared at one of the fight’s promotional face-offs. “We’ve already confirmed that the promoter for Canelo vs Crawford will be Sela for Riyadh Season. The broadcaster is still undecided, but the date is now Saturday, September 13th. We’ll share more details soon,” the Saudi minister posted on X.

This means the fight between the Mexican superstar and the American champion will now take place on the same day as UFC 320 in Mexico. It’s not the first time the two worlds have clashed—Canelo’s fight against Edgar Berlanga overlapped with UFC 306 on the same weekend last year. That weekend marks Mexican Independence Day. It’s unclear whether this split is permanent or just a one-off for this particular fight.

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