-We move now to sports.

On Saturday, September 13, Allegiant Stadium will host its first boxing match.

The main event pits world super middleweight champion Saul Canelo Alvarez against undefeated world welterweight champion Terrence "Bud" Crawford.

It's a fight that has boxing fans salivating, yet it's being promoted in part by UFC president and CEO Dana White.

Under the company TKO Group Holdings, the premier mixed martial arts organization is entering boxing alongside Saudi Arabia and the chairman of its general entertainment authority, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh.

So what does this mean for boxing's future?

For that we bring in Jacob "Stitch" Duran, an esteemed cutman in both boxing and mixed martial arts, as well as Amer Abdallah, a boxing advisor and former world champion kickboxer.

Gentlemen, thank you for joining Nevada Week.

-Thank you.

-Remind me.

When did people start talking about making this fight?

Because these are two great boxers, future Hall of Famers, but in two very different weight classes?

(Amer Abdallah) Initially, the conversations were with Terence Crawford coming over to Saudi.

And Saudi, you know, welcomed him, embraced him and really welcomed him, and they were looking for a big fight for him.

And the word on the street is Bill Haney actually is the one that put it in Bud's ear and said, Listen, if you want a big fight, go right to Canelo.

-Bill Haney is the father of Devin Haney, another professional boxer.

I did not think this would ever be a fight that could be made--money being a big part of it--and then why would Terence Crawford want to go up, what, two, or is it three, weight classes?

-Two weight classes.

-Two weight classes.

-Three weight classes.

-Three, right.

My first thought is, could this have happened without Saudi Arabia's involvement?

(Jacob "Stitch" Duran) Well, yes, it could.

Money talks, right?

And so in that situation, yeah, I could see that happening.

-What about you?

-Absolutely not.

-It wouldn't have?

-It would have taken way too much for Canelo to come to the table.

And although this is a fight against, you know, a super welterweight and he's sitting at super middleweight, it's still risky.

Bud's a nasty guy.

-Oh, yeah.

-But then you got the Jake Paul scenario, where he is putting money into these fighters.

So could he have made that program?

-But the risk is there's a difference between, I believe in boxing, risk and risky.

And it's a risk putting Canelo with Jake Paul, but you know what those Pay-Per-View numbers are looking at.

Terence Crawford, historically--and I love Bud, and I think he's probably, pound-for-pound, top two, three in the world, historically, and you can talk to Top Rank because they said it publicly--has not been able to sell the kind of tickets and numbers outside of Omaha.

-He's a quiet guy.

-He's a quiet guy.

He's a nasty guy.

-Highly skilled.

-Extremely, extremely.

So that one's risky to put him with Canelo Alvarez.

Canelo is the cash cow.

So I think you'd need to have guarantees like Saudi brought to the table in order for that fight to happen.

-So we are talking about money?

-100%.

-How much is Canelo going to get paid?

-I heard 150 million.

-That's what they reported.

-I heard 50 million for Crawford.

-And I heard 10 million for Crawford, that he said that in a podcast.

-We don't know the numbers, and those are between the teams.

I think it's all hearsay.

Whether or not the State Athletic Commission discloses those numbers afterwards will be a different story.

And there will always be back end money also.

-The Nevada Athletic Commission no longer discloses fighter purses.

-I don't think Bud goes near the ring for 10 million.

-I agree.

-I thought that was strange, but he was quoted in a podcast saying that.

What has Saudi Arabia's impact on boxing been?

-It's been phenomenal.

It's unbelievable.

I mean, you know, it started 2019 when Anthony Joshua fought Ruiz for the second time.

And then it was Usyk/Joshua II.

And then we did Jake Paul versus Tommy Fury.

That we did, the masses, because we wanted to see-- they wanted a little more of a younger crowd demographic in it.

The co-main was Badou Jack/Ilunga Makabu for the WBC cruiserweight title.

And then, the General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh and Sela came in, and they said, you know, We'd like to take this to the next level.

And they dumped a ton of money.

They started with Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou.

-Which is bringing MMA and boxing together, but it was a boxing match.

-It was a boxing match, I mean, and it did what it did, you know.

It made an impact.

And, you know, if you looked at that Fight Week--I was there with Mike Tyson--everybody was there.

Conor McGregor was there.

Mike Tyson was there.

Manny Pacquiao was there.

Oscar De La Hoya.

I mean, you just list.

Miguel Cotto and Prince Naseem.

Everybody was there.

-Yeah.

There was a picture, I think, with-- -Yeah, yeah.

- --His Excellency in the middle and all these tremendous fighters, yeah.

-So their impact has been amazing.

And because when you have-- The biggest problem with boxing is two things: It's money and then, number two, and a far number two, is timing, right?

So money, check.

And when you have money-- Shelly Finkel, told me this, and I use it all the time.

He who holds the gold holds the power.

So you hold the gold and you hold the power.

This is what I want when I want it.

This is how I want it, and it works.

Our initial initiative was to bring all of the promoters together.

That was the mindset of Saudi, and that's what they've done.

Frank Warren, Eddie Hearn never talked.

Now they're, you know, you see them everywhere together, and they're promoting shows, and they're doing great things for the sport.

So, yeah, money controls it, and Saudi's got it.

And Turki Alalshikh loves boxing.

He's got a passion for it.

His Royal Highness, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, loves boxing.

There's thirst for it, and you're getting these fights because of Saudi.

-Do you disagree with any of that?

-Well, I don't disagree with the money aspect of it.

My only concern would be, and I kind of look at it as the fighters' perspective, right?

What are they going to do for the fighters, you know, outside of the UBO coming up with, you know, a price for 10-rounders?

-And let's explain that.

So Saudi Arabia has been involved in boxing, putting a lot of money in it.

Big, big payouts for fighters to make these fights; however, they are working now with the UFC to implement a new kind of league.

Is it fair to call it that, a new boxing league?

-Yeah.

-And in order for that to work, according to some, there needs to be legislative changes at the national level.

There needs to be changes to the Muhammad Ali Act.

The new proposal is called the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act.

And some argue this would allow the UFC and President Dana White to operate boxing more like they operate the UFC.

And so then that leads into what you're talking about, the UBOs, the unified boxing organizations, that would be part of this legislation.

And what do you think would be the result of those?

-Well, I don't know.

I don't know what they're bringing to the table outside of money paying 10-rounders, you know, and then 10-rounders that are 5 and 10, you know, for the number 5 to a number 10, but-- -Are you talking about the proposed pay scale?

-Yes, yes.

But what about, you know, are they going to invest in bringing up the young talents, or are they just going to get talents that are already established?

So these are questions that have to be asked.

-Your thoughts on the proposed changes?

-Oh, yeah, he's probably against it.

-Which they call "updates."

They're not saying that they're changing it; they're updating it.

-The average person doesn't understand boxing, because boxing is really two buckets: There's the sport of boxing, which we all love, and then there's the business of boxing, which we all hate.

And the business of boxing controls the sport of boxing.

So biggest example is Floyd Mayweather/ Manny Pacquiao.

It took seven years to make.

Why?

You've got the two best guys in the world.

The UFC, that would never happen under that umbrella.

Now you're number one, you're number two, you are fighting.

Number two is injured, you're fighting number three.

-And that should be applauded.

-I love that structure.

-I agree.

-That structure is a phenomenal structure.

Here's the problem: Boxing dates back historically so far back.

It's been so broken, so fragmented that people have evolved into accepting it for what it is.

Could you imagine boxing being run as a straight-laced, you know, system-driven systematic kind of approach?

It would be absolute chaos.

You're used to having your four major sanctioning bodies.

You're used to having your six, seven, if you include MVP major promoters.

You're used to having all these different networks all fighting for the same kind of stuff.

The actual solution is exactly what they're proposing, which is one system, one belt, one ranking, one network, one promoter.

That's what makes sense, black and white, although boxing historically hasn't been that way.

What are you going to do with Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren and Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum?

What are you going to do, tell them, Step aside, this is what we're doing?

This initiative was great 150, 200 years ago.

Today, they have a challenge.

They have the funding behind them, and it's going to take them some time.

And to answer your question, Stitch, I think it is going to be cultivating new talent.

You're not going to bring Terence Crawford or Canelo into that system.

-Well, but how many of the young guys, the 10-rounders that are there that don't really have a solid, solid promoter are going to want to go and join them?

-At what stage in their careers, though?

-That's my point.

How are they going to judge who they're going to bring on board, who are they going to sign?

And then the point is, is if they sign with TKO, are they still free agents enough to go work for another promoter?

-No.

-Of course not.

-I think under this legislation, you have to choose between the established way or with the new proposed way.

There was a report with reported purses under the UFC boxing system.

$20,000 for a 10-round fight with an unranked fighter; $50,000 if you're ranked by the company from 5 to 10.

One more, defending company championship, $750,000.

That is so dramatically different than what boxers are currently-- -But it's not.

-It's not?

-No.

It's not for-- -We're just talking about Canelo getting $100 million.

-Again, it's not for, it's not for, it's not dramatically different for the non guys, the nonsuperstars.

So if you look at your A-list guys, the Canelos, the-- Look, even Devin Haney.

Devin Haney, for me, is, you know, one of the best in the world.

Devin Haney doesn't command those kinds of paydays.

Now, mind you, he wouldn't fight for $750,000, right?

So he would be in between those guys.

But those kinds of guys will always command the big purses.

But when you look at some of your light heavyweight champions, some of your cruiserweight champions, some of your lower weight classes, 750,000 is not a bad payday for defending your title.

Now, if it's against a big superstar, yeah, of course.

Why does everybody want to fight Floyd Mayweather?

Why does everybody want to fight Canelo?

Well, those guys are the money guys.

Those guys are the ones that command the money.

But the majority of the time, those aren't bad purses to pay guys that are nonsuperstar status.

-Okay.

So the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act is what we're talking about.

It has bipartisan support: A representative from Georgia who's a Republican, a representative from Kansas who is a Democrat.

And she was an MMA fighter, so she says, Let's do this.

Let's protect fighters, talks about the insurance that they will get if they are injured during the fight.

I mean, that already existed, I thought.

-Yes, it does.

-Okay.

But perhaps they're increasing the amount.

-Which it should anyway, right?

-Yeah.

I mean, that-- I wouldn't-- See, sometimes when you, when you add things like that, it's language that-- A promoter has to have a surety bond, a performance bond, accidental death and dismemberment, different kinds of insurance, depending on the commission, the state.

So those things are already covered.

Now, if you're talking about long-term medical, if you're talking about year-round medical, that's a great proposition and a great proposal to put in.

But for the event itself, that's already covered.

-You have Lonnie Ali, the widow of Muhammad Ali, who is in favor of it.

But then you have Nico Ali Walsh, Muhammad Ali's grandson, a local here, a professional boxer who says, As an Ali, I'm completely against altering the Muhammad Ali Act.

My grandfather fought for it to protect fighters from getting screwed over.

Remove it and promoters take control while fighters get paid less.

Keep the act and protect the fighters who put their lives on the line.

So some disagreement among family members even.

-Yeah.

I would go with Nico Ali because, you know, there's so many people that have not been in the ring, have not gotten hit, to experience what these guys go through that are making the laws.

Nico Ali has been in the trenches.

Biagio Ali, his brother, fights MMA.

They've been in the trenches.

They understand the hardships.

They understand the families, the sacrifices that they make.

So, yeah, I would go with Nico Ali's statement.

-And, Amer, you work with Nico Ali.

-I represent Nico.

And, you know, I had a conversation with Nico about about that, and he was very candid.

He is taking the position of defending the fighter, because that's what he is.

And Stitch is accurate in that sense.

That doesn't mean that you oppose-- So this doesn't dissolve the Muhammad Ali Act.

It allows these guys to be able to run this other organization, and then the fighter can actually choose.

So nothing is being stripped from the fighter, and it's-- You can choose the traditional promoter route, or you can choose this new UBO, whatever it may be deemed--a TKO league or whatever it's going to be called--and you make a decision as to which one fits you.

And Nico's position was very-- Listen, he said, My grandfather fought for this to protect the fighters from the managers, from the promoters, from anybody that's trying to exploit them from that.

And that's an honorable defense in his situation.

My argument to that would be, there is another avenue that fighters can choose that maybe they're not going to be on the level that, you know, that Nico is projected to be at or some of these other guys are.

So it's an alternative option, and they'll have the option to choose which one they want to take.

-But my point is, do they have an option, or do you, as TKO, pick who you want?

-Well, of course, TKO picks.

They have a great scouting team.

They're scouting guys that they feel are going to be marketable, that they feel can fight their behinds off, that they feel are going to be action packed stars.

They have a great scouting team.

So they have a huge roster of guys now that they've signed that they're going to cultivate and build into what they're hoping to be is your next Conor McGregor, is your, you know, next big name in mixed martial arts.

-So basically, you're saying they have to prove themselves in boxing before they get invited to fight for TKO?

-Well, I mean, it's just like MMA, Stitch.

How are these guys getting recruited into the UFC?

They're fighting on these club-level shows.

And Dana has that series where he goes out and he scouts different guys.

You have to prove yourself somewhere.

You're not going to be given a silver spoon.

So, yeah, they are going to have to prove themselves.

And if you're deemed that you qualify-- Remember The Contender Series with Stallone?

Look, those guys fought dog fights in the gyms and all of that.

What did they want?

They wanted a shot to be on that big stage.

-Is this sustainable, though?

Does Saudi Arabia have enough money to continue this pattern?

-Does Saudi Arabia have enough money?

[laughter] -I could answer that one, and I don't even know what's going on.

-But their purpose in getting into boxing is that they want to move away from their dependence on oil, right?

That's what they've said publicly.

-They're not gonna make it in boxing, are they, compared to oil?

-Not with 150 million to Canelo.

But if they change the whole system and start paying less, I-- -The country is a very wealthy country.

And I would say this: Being a Muslim, being an Arab, and very proud of that, of my heritage and my lineage, that the country in itself is a beautiful country.

There are stigmas out there about, you know, I hear all the kind of stuff of "sport washing" and this and the other thing.

But the facts are, go to Saudi Arabia and see how you're treated there.

Go walk-- Derek Chisora just called me beforehand.

Derek Chisora would walk in the street, people would grab him to welcome him to their house as a guest.

Derek Chisora is not a good looking guy, he's not a small guy, and they would welcome him into the house.

For three days he's their guest.

And he was like, Man, I can't believe the hospitality there.

The women that go there, see how they're treated there.

So the country in itself, from its heritage, its religion, its culture, is a very solid country.

When you say "oil dependency," what do other countries rely on?

You can't strip one to say, we're not going to give to this.

They are wealthy, and they're putting and allocating money into things that are growing the country.

And Vision 2030 is a phenomenal vision, and I hope that it turns out to be as big as they plan it is.

And I think it's going to be even bigger.

-I mean, this fight is airing on Netflix.

It is not Pay-Per-View.

-Yeah.

-Right.

But then you got tickets-- Ringside tickets are what?

-They're not cheap.

There was a guy that was looking for tickets, and the front row was going for 75,000.

-Ah!

-It's insane.

-No, it's massive.

But when, again, when Floyd fought Pacquiao, those were similar prices.

When Floyd fought Manny Pacquiao, we weren't alien to that.

That was the number one gate in the history of boxing.

When Floyd fought Conor McGregor, that was also big.

So it's, I think it's easy to say, well, it's astronomical how much they get paid.

It's astronomical how much tickets are.

Floyd got paid over $200 million fighting each of the Pacquiao and Connor fights.

-How much were the tickets for Mike Tyson and Jake Paul?

-They weren't that big.

-No, they weren't.

-And this is in a football stadium, 65,000 seats.

The cheapest seat is almost $500 way up top.

Are they going to sell these tickets?

-I think that right now, you talk to different ticket brokers, tickets are flying off.

I mean, there is a demand for it.

There's a demand for it, and I think it is because of that stigma.

This is a guy that's nasty, number one, pound-for-pound at 147 fighting a nasty guy, the legend at 168.

What's going to happen?

I think that aura in itself is what's selling, and that's what people want.

-Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining Nevada Week.

-Thank you.