### Dana White’s Quotes on Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford
Dana White, as the promoter for Zuffa Boxing and host of the Riyadh Season Card event, has been vocal during fight week leading up to the September 13, 2025, bout at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Below is a compilation of his key quotes from various media interviews, press conferences, and appearances, focusing on the fight’s significance, promotion, and related boxing topics. I’ve included context where relevant, along with some news bits about the event and broader boxing landscape.
#### On Why the Fight Had to Happen and Its Historical Importance
White has emphasized the rarity of two top pound-for-pound fighters facing off, crediting Turki Alalshikh for making it possible. In an interview with Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson:
– “This is what makes this such a great fight for fight fans.”
– “To have a great fight, what’s at stake? It’s no different than the Super Bowl or any of these big big sporting events. What’s at stake?”
– “When you have a guy like Crawford who could stay in his lane, go down as the greatest in his division… but to move up two weight classes to want to prove himself and for Canelo to accept… This is what we all dream of as fight fans. So that’s why I call this once in a lifetime fight cuz literally nobody does this, right?”
– “How it came about was Turki Alalshikh from Saudi Arabia put this fight together, then hit me up and said, ‘I want you to be the promoter of this event.’ And you said, ‘Okay, because Dana, look what you do in the UFC and this is what we want in the UFC. You don’t allow somebody to try to handpick and cherry pick guys… If you’re the number one contender and you got a belt, you fighting the number one contender.’”
– “What I hate is debate. I hate debate… There’s only one way to find out… All the answers, all the questions will be answered on Saturday in the ring.”
**News Bit:** The fight is being streamed live and free on Netflix globally, marking a shift from traditional PPV models. White has promoted it heavily on X, calling it a “once in a lifetime” event.
#### On the Fight Purse and Gate Expectations
White has hinted at massive payouts without giving exact figures, while touting the event’s commercial success:
– “Imagine what it would take for Canelo to fight Crawford, and for a guy to move weight classes, who is undefeated.” (When asked if it’s $100 million for Canelo) “Probably.”
– “My first fight ever – I’ve been talking about boxing for a long time – is Canelo Crawford, one of the biggest fights ever. [It is] literally one of the biggest fights ever. The third biggest gate in the history of boxing, and it’s the biggest gate ever in a stadium. It’s awesome and surreal at the same time.”
**News Bit:** The live gate is projected to be the third-highest in combat sports history, behind only Mayweather-McGregor and another major boxing event, highlighting the fight’s draw despite Crawford moving up two weight classes.
#### On the Fight Style and Prediction
White predicts an aggressive showdown, contrasting it with typical boxing matches:
– “Crawford will go right at Canelo & PROMISES A WAR.”
– Referring to the undercard: “If you look at this undercard on Saturday night, all young up and coming guys that are undefeated, all fighting.”
**News Bit:** Crawford, undefeated at 40-0, hasn’t fought in 14 months and is coming up from welterweight, while Canelo (61-2-2) is defending his super middleweight titles. Critics note Canelo looked subpar in his last outing against Edgar Berlanga.
#### On Event Presentation and Changes to Boxing
White aims to apply UFC-style efficiency to boxing events, criticizing slow pacing:
– “I like when the night moves fast.”
– “Right now, when you watch a boxing event, they’ll have one fight, then there’s a podcast. Then there’s another fight, and there’s a podcast, and the night gets dragged out. It’s bad enough for the people at home watching on TV. The people that are live, it has to be insane.”
– “I haven’t been to a fight in years. The last fight that I went to was at MGM and it was Tyson Fury and (Deontay) Wilder. It was the worst experience that I’ve ever had at any event. Great fight – and I’ve been to like, small, sh*tty shows that were way better run than that one was.”
**News Bit:** White is handling promotion, production, event operations, and PR for the card, promising a faster-paced show without excessive desk analysis between fights to keep energy high.
#### On Broader Issues in Boxing
White critiqued boxing’s structure, contrasting it with UFC:
– “What you’ve seen is… people have been talking about the demise of boxing for over 30 years, but what you have seen is there’s no television deal right now for boxing out there… It doesn’t work. You can’t build… All these fights feel like a going out of business sale.”
– “Here’s the thing about boxing… everybody’s undefeated. Right now, in the UFC, if you’re undefeated like Jon Jones… that means something. But even though in the UFC, if a guy has one loss, you don’t discard it. It seems like now in boxing, if you have one loss, you’re not any good… Sugar Ray had losses. Muhammad had losses… Why did they have losses? Because they fought the best.”
– “The fighters today don’t want to take a loss because it messes up being the A-side. It messes up being able to command a certain amount for your purse… That’s all it comes down to.”
**News Bit:** Boxing lacks stable TV deals, relying on streaming pickups, which White sees as unsustainable compared to UFC’s model.
#### On the Press Conference Exchange with Reporter Sean Zittel
During the final press conference, White clashed with a reporter over TKO’s efforts to amend the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act:
– “Well, 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. It’s about these two guys on Saturday night.”
– “Listen, I get it, you want a showboat right now. Set up an interview with me if this is really what you want to talk about.”
– “If you have questions for these two, ask ’em and you can set up an interview with me.”
– “Listen, if you want to be an asshole, let’s do it in private and we can do an interview. If you wanna showboat, I get it. If you have questions for these two that are fighting on Saturday, that’s a different story.”
– “This isn’t a discussion to have at a press conference for these two that are going to fight on Saturday, two legends. If you want to set up an interview with me and ask me these questions, let’s do it one-on-one, and you can ask me anything you want.”
– “You have a question for these two? No, beat it.”
**News Bit:** The exchange highlighted tensions over TKO’s lobbying to modify the Ali Act for more UFC-like control in boxing. Canelo interjected jokingly with “Fight, fight, fight!” amid audience boos.
### Additional Quotes on Dana White’s New League (Zuffa Boxing)
Dana White has been discussing his entry into boxing through Zuffa Boxing, a venture under TKO Group Holdings, often in partnership with Turki Alalshikh. This league aims to restructure boxing with a UFC-like model, focusing on building stars, unified belts, and consistent matchmaking. Below are compiled quotes from interviews, including a recent Vegas PBS appearance, where he outlines plans starting in 2026.
#### On the Structure and Model of Zuffa Boxing
– “We’re going to have the basic weight classes that started everything. There’s going to be one belt. It’ll be like the UFC, the model that we …”
– “And basically in 26, I’m going to start my show. What I’m gonna do is like the contender series. The best will fight the best. Undefeated guys will fight undefeated guys and what you’ll care about is your first night of a match, not just the main event.”
– “This is how you build an NFL or NBA. This is how it’s done. I feel like we’re starting from scratch …”
– “We must now have it be normal to lose some fights in boxing.”
– “Yes — it is Zuffa.”
#### On Building Fighters and Graduation System
– “So I build stars, put on great fights. Then these guys graduate and fight with Sheikh Turki.”
– “They determine how much they get paid. Okay, so you will help raise these boxers and then once they reach the potential of a Canelo, they’re gonna make big money with Saudi Arabia. Yeah, they are going to make big money here too, considering where they are.”
#### On Fighter Pay and Comparisons to Boxing
– “Everybody likes to throw the fighter pay out there, yet nobody does their homework. It’s just fun little sound bite.”
– “Most guys that fight in boxing make $100 around. Some guys they’ll fight for a title for $15,000. So everybody talks but nobody does their homework. These guys that are fighting in my league are going to get paid.”
#### On Launch and Partnerships
– “Awesome, everything is going good – we had a great call yesterday with Netflix; I’m excited to work with them.”
– “And here we are — my first boxing fight is a once-in-a-lifetime fight with two of the greatest of all time.”
– “Er, no – there are stories being written out there [about me and boxing], but no… I saw that article; I think that article was incredibly premature and if there was a deal done, then it would have been announced, and you would have had quotes from me. But there’s no quotes from me, or the UFC, or anything.”
#### On Facilities and Expansion
– “I think that you could see a lot of things at The Apex after the expansion.”
– “The Apex is going to be bad*** when it’s done – it’s like a $26-30 million expansion so it’s going to be very nice.”
**News Bit:** Zuffa Boxing has reportedly secured 60 to 70 boxers already. The Canelo-Crawford fight serves as its debut event, with plans for a full launch in 2026 featuring developmental fights similar to UFC’s Contender Series. Critics like Eddie Hearn have pushed back, saying it’s not a revolutionary format.
