Dana White lashed out at a reporter for questioning him about changes to the Muhammad Ali Act at the Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford press conference.
White, the head of the UFC, the leading organisation in mixed martial arts, has entered boxing with a new promotional company that is staging the Canelo vs Crawford superfight.
The UFC’s current model in MMA, where it is the promotional company that also administers its own fighter rankings and world championships, is not permitted in boxing due to the Ali Act’s measures to prevent monopolies taking hold in the sport.
However the changes put forward in the newly proposed Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act would among other things allow ‘unified boxing organisations,’ i.e. a promotional entity that could also run its own world titles.
Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford face off as they prepare to go head-to-head in Las Vegas.
Boxing reporter Sean Zittel questioned White about his support for these measures at the Canelo vs Crawford press conference in Las Vegas.
Rather than answer directly, White replied: “This is obviously a long discussion. If you want to talk to me about that, set up an interview. This isn’t about me and my business, this is about these two guys on Saturday night.”
White interrupted the reporter’s second question, saying: “I get it, you want to showboat right now. Set up an interview if this is really what you want to talk about.”
The journalist nevertheless persisted, querying whether his company would still invest in boxing if those legal changes didn’t come into effect.
Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez go face-to-face in true Las Vegas style in front of the Bellagio hotel’s dancing fountains ahead of their colossal fight on Saturday.
Swearing at Zittel, White said: “Let’s do it in private and we can do an interview. If you want to showboat, I get it. If you have questions for these two that are fighting on Saturday, that’s a different story.”
Canelo jovially chanted: “Fight, fight, fight, fight!” during the exchange.
White added: “This isn’t a discussion to have at a press conference where these two are going to fight on Saturday, two legends. If you want to set up an interview and ask me these questions one on one, let’s do it and you can ask me anything you want.
“You have a question for these two? No? Beat it.”
