UFC-style takeover of boxing opposed by popular ex-fighter following Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Alvarez

A former UFC slugger doesn’t like the potential direction boxing is going in.

Dana White stepped back into the sweet science as a promoter for the mega fight between Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez this past Saturday. In the build up to fight night, a lot of promotional tactics that UFC fans are familiar with were used. There was even an “Embedded” series for the boxing event.

While many panned the pacing of the event despite White’s promise, the show gave fans a historic moment when Crawford defeated Alvarez to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.

While Crawford’s win over Alvarez had the boxing world buzzing, former UFC star Matt Brown isn’t going to forget about the questions White received regarding the Ali Act, which TKO is trying to overhaul. During an episode of MMAFighting.com‘s “The Fighter vs. The Writer,” Brown said it’s a dangerous path for boxing to be monopolized.

“The big issue is what they’ve done with the UFC is they’ve monopolized the sport,” Brown said. “This is why you see guys we’ll say a couple of weeks ago when [Carlos] Prates was begging for his friend to get a shot in the UFC. You see guys like me, I’m guilty of it, like ‘can I get that $50,000 bonus, please? Please master?’ That’s not the way it’s supposed to work and the reason it doesn’t work that way in boxing — you’ve never heard a single boxer in my lifetime beg the promoter for anything — because of the thing called the Ali Act, which the UFC is trying to revise, which actually means destroy.

“It’s not going to be a good thing. People think it’s going to be a good thing but when you have a single entity controlling rankings, controlling titles, that’s not a good thing for boxing.”

Some have spoken out against potential changes to the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996. Several MMA names called in during a California State Athletic Commission meeting to voice their displeasure over the proposed Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act. This caused the commission to postpone voting on the act.