Keith Connolly Says Fans Should “Embrace” Zuffa Boxing

“There is. But you know what? When there’s a disruptor in the sport, and Zuffa right now is the disruptor cause they’re the new kid on the block, and they are financially capitalized. They have probably some of the smartest guys in or the smartest people in combat sports. Nick Khan, Dana White, guys that have been successful in everything they’ve done in life,” said Keith Connolly to Punchout Boxing.

“People get worried, but I think in the end, boxing is boxing. Everybody will end up working together, and the fans will win in the end. I mean, I’m surprised about the negativity as far as the fans about Zuffa, when you have is it because it’s the unknown?”

Connolly believes the traditional side of boxing has helped create skepticism toward the new company, but he sees the additional money and media exposure as a positive for the sport.

“And I think the traditional promoters are putting a negative spin on them, but I think we should be embracing them because when you have a couple hundred million coming into the sport per year that wasn’t there before, and where you have platforms that they’re doing fights on like Paramount that has 70 million plus paid subscribers already,” said Connolly. “How is that not good for the sport? Why wouldn’t the fans be happy? Why wouldn’t everybody be happy?”

“We want more eyeballs on boxing. Everybody talks about the sport dying. Now you have a platform of 70 million subscribers,” said Connolly. “Now there are three to four fights on Netflix a year, which have 300 million subscribers. People should be rejoicing. This could be a renaissance in boxing. This could bring the sport back.”

Connolly added that he ultimately wants every promoter and network to succeed because he believes the overall health of boxing improves when more major companies invest in the sport.