Hollywood A-List Director Believes Boxing is a Dysfunctional Mess Begging for UFC Boss Dana White to Fix It

Boxing has always had a reputation for being a chaotic, fragmented sport where politics often get in the way of the best fights happening. Unlike MMA, where the UFC consistently puts top fighters against each other, boxing has long been divided between multiple promotions, sanctioning bodies, and champions who rarely cross paths. 

While Turki Alalshikh has recently played a huge role in bringing big fights to the table, some believe the sport still needs major reforms. Hollywood director Peter Berg—known for films like Hancock and Lone Survivor—is one of those voices.

According to him, boxing is still a “dysfunctional mess” that desperately needs someone like Dana White to step in and bring order to the chaos. White himself has been rather vocal about pugilism, often claiming that the sport is not what it used to be. 

While saner minds would argue that White’s methods of monopolizing the sport wouldn’t necessarily warrant a marked improvement, Berg thinks otherwise.

While speaking to Joe Rogan, the Hancock director said, “I think boxers have it harder. Boxing is in a more dysfunctional state than the UFC mainly because of Dana and the fact that Dana has been able to monopolize it.”

Elaborating what he wished for the sport’s future, the director added, “There is a huge system that you’re a huge part of that makes sense, and there are good people involved at the top. Boxing has none of that, so it’s a broken dysfunctional mess that is just begging for someone, hopefully, Dana can come and organize it.”

Thankfully for Berg, it appears that White’s long-awaited entry into the sport of boxing is about to become a reality. 

White & TKO venture figure out next steps

TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of the UFC and WWE, is closing in on a deal to launch a new boxing league in 2025.

During a recent financial call, TKO president Mark Shapiro confirmed that talks with Saudi Arabia were progressing, with plans for the UFC and WWE executives to run the league—without investing their own money.

“We would receive a fee of $10 million plus,” Shapiro explained, emphasizing that TKO wouldn’t be taking on financial risks but would be overseeing day-to-day operations.

Shapiro also teased massive fight cards as part of the deal.

“We’d have consistent fights throughout the year,” he said, adding that they plan to promote four mega-events, two in 2025 and two in 2026. This partnership would further cement Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in boxing, led by Alalshikh. 

“There’s an audience for boxing… (But) It’s been broken for too long… We think we can do a lot with it.”, he concluded. 

However, as shiny as this new endeavour sounds, it should ring some alarm bells for the athletes themselves.

The top boxers of the world are indeed making tons of money from megafights, but recent statements by the owner of the TKO group cast a rather ominous shadow over the future of the sport.

In an interview, Ari Emanuel had claimed that the Ali Act would hurt their plans for a boxing league. Talking about the potential future on The Pat McAfee Show, he had said, “We’re kind of looking at that right now. I think you’ve got the Ali Act that hurts it. Hopefully, who knows what’s going to happen with the Ali Act, and then Dana has a plan for boxing. We’ll see.”

Passed in 2000, the Ali Act ensures that boxers themselves remain primary beneficiaries of any and all fights they are involved in.

It provides them security in terms of shorter contracts, creates a clear demarcation between rankings, titles, and promoters, and offers transparent revenue stats, allowing pugilists to make the most out of the share of profits.

White and the UFC’s reputation, especially in the matters of revenue sharing and fighter benefits, have left a lot to be desired, something that should be noted as his plans for an extension come to fruition.