By: Sean Crose
A very long time in the past, in what could as properly have been a galaxy far, far-off, I shared a couple of transient phrases with UFC honcho Dana White on social media. It was throughout the leadup to the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao superfight. Maybe stung by the very fact boxing, fairly than MMA, was at present the middle of the fight sport world, White made it clear that UFC fighters might primarily mow down each Mayweather and Pacquiao. I responded by stating George Foreman would have crumpled Muhammad Ali in a parking zone, however since their combat was held in a boxing ring, Ali put Foreman on the mat. The purpose? That boxing abides by its personal bizarre algorithm and just about has since across the early Eighteen Nineties…and that within the boxing ring even the hardest of robust guys could be become a punching bag.
White primarily responded by stating he was merely making a degree, and that was that. So far as I can recall I haven’t shared one other phrase with the person – although my slight expertise with the UFC has been constructive and spectacular. The reality, as those that have adopted White’s distinctive profession know, is that White has lengthy coveted the thought of stepping into the boxing enterprise as a critical participant. Positive sufficient, White even ran a boxing membership in Boston in his youthful days earlier than gangster Whitey Bulger ran him out of the enterprise. The scary expertise despatched White fleeing to to Vegas – and the remainder is historical past. The person turned a part of the world of combined martial arts, then turned not solely the UFC’s head honcho, however the very face of the group.
At present, in fact, White has moved on to being one of the crucial well-known figures within the sporting world and past. Not solely does the UFC promote out arenas – it additionally recurrently hosts President Donald Trump at its occasions. Nonetheless, White has additionally remained targeted on boxing the complete time. Maybe his present degree of huge success isn’t sufficient. Maybe he nonetheless desires to show he could make it in boxing with out having to buckle to the Whitey Bulgers of the world so as to take action. Or maybe he simply loves boxing. Even supposing boxing and the UFC have been in direct competitors for some time now, White has lengthy made his love of the candy science recognized. For no matter motive, the face of the UFC has lengthy dreamed of constructing it within the boxing recreation.
And now that dream has come true. With the announcement Tuesday of this September’s Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford superfight, the world has realized that White can be a promoter for the Netflix broadcast extravaganza. Canelo-Crawford isn’t Floyd Mayweather’s a lot hyped novelty throwdown with Conor McGregor. This can be a reliable contest between two of the highest fighters within the present boxing recreation. What sort of influence White can have on the boxing trade stays to be seen. Those that view the present state of issues objectively, nevertheless, must admit the person is off to a powerful begin.
