Years ago, during one of Dana White’s frequent flirtations with boxing, White offered a reporter a tour of what he planned to turn into the boxing wing of UFC’s Las Vegas training center. Large, glass walled offices that sat empty would soon be occupied by seasoned boxing-types, White said. What White did for UFC, turning a financially failing mixed martial arts outfit into a company valued at $12 billion, he wanted to do for boxing.
Nothing came of it back then. White continued to plow forward with UFC, which later joined forces with WWE under one banner: TKO, which last week announced, in partnership with Saudi Arabia, the formation of a new boxing promotion, with White as the face of it. Inside a tiny Manhattan hotel room, White addressing the same reporter, was asked what has changed.
