Eddie Hearn says he doesn’t think people will watch the level of fighters competing in promoter Dana White’s new Saudi Funds Suffa Boxing League. The type of fighters Dana expects to sign is the prospects that he will set 50-50 fights, with the idea of turning it into stars as he competes around the zuffa and ring belts.
No legacy in Mickey Mouse belts
It is believed that the new league will be after Dana White’s contender for MMA. It was successful for white. Dana’s new Zuffa Boxing League is displayed on paramount with 12 cards per year. Some of the events will also be displayed on CBS.
Matchroom -Promotor Hearn does not see this idea for White because the top fighters do not want to fight for his league unless he pays them big money. He does not believe Dana will. Even if he does sign some talent with a big name, people will not be excited to see how they wiped out the prospects that will permeate his Zuffa league.
“The Zuffa Belt, to me, is a belt in which no boxer is interested. The legacy and history come through the organizations (IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO). They want to win the (established historical) belts,” Promoter Eddie Hearn said The bumpy groundAnd give his thoughts on Dana White’s ideas for his Suffa Boxing League in 2026, along with the belts on which his fighters will compete.
Minor League Fighters, Major League Hype
White’s new league will be seen by many casual box fans on paramount and CBS. With the enormous advertising fees that the Saudi will put in it, people will hear about the fights.
Even if it involves obscure fighters and those who do not have the talent to compete with fighters outside Suffa box will want to see fans these matches. However, it will be difficult to turn the fighters into stars, if not impossible.
Fans can see marginal talent
Unlike MMA, fans want to see elite fighters, and they can easily see when someone is marginal. We saw a lot with the bottom map packed with the Canelo Alvarez against Terence Crawford event. The only fighters who showed the ability on the bottom map were the Christian Mbilli against Lester Martinez fight. Those guys are not prospects and will not be part of Dana’s Zuffa League.
Whether Dana White’s league succeeds may amount to whether the Saudi is willing to finance it for 10 to 20 years, as it can take so long before it can go on. Wiser thoughts can see it as an idea doomed from the beginning. With the money of the Saudi, they do not need a league to feed major fights. They can work within the current system. A new boxing league sounds like a desperate, Poorly thoughtful idea. Surprisingly, the Saudi goes with this.
“I don’t think that (the zuffa belt) means a royal beans in box. I think it devaluates what you are trying to do because you create a brand new Mickey Mouse belt from nowhere that has no legacy, no history, and no standing within the game. Their argument is: ‘Within time, that the belt will be like the WBC. “I don’t believe it,” Hearn says.
Zuffa box doomed from the beginning?
It will be very difficult for the new Zuffa League to succeed while promoters tackle excellent cards with excellent talent on Dazn and Amazon. Fans will see the fighters on the Zuffa Boxing League as minor league talents and ignore them. In the end, the Sauds could consider it a waste of money and forget about it.
Hearn points out that fighters like Shakur Stevenson, Theofimo Lopez and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis wouldn’t give the idea of giving up to fight their belts to compete for a zuffa belt. He doesn’t see them doing unless Dana White pays them a large amount of money. Hearn says that “Never is going to happen.” It would defeat the purpose of the new league to do so cheaply.
Last updated on 10/03/2025
