By Frank Bay: Former pug Paulie Malignaggi has been critical of Turki Alalshikh and Dana White lately on his podcast Paulie TV. Paulie is a good watch because he is entertaining while also understanding the inner workings of boxing.
He comes across as genuine, and he lets it be known that he doesn’t like Dana White. He states there may be a bit of a bias against Dana and Turki because he works for Pro Box TV. Paulie let it be known that his platform Pro Box TV and Tuki Alalshikh are competitors within the boxing business. He states that Turki has banned Pro Box TV from having access to his events. There have been other social media boxing platforms in what seems to be a case of not kissing the ring that have also been denied access to Turki’s boxing events. This has raised red flags within the industry, which Paulie is attempting to bring to light.
Red Flags
Paulie says that he will still talk about Turki’s venture with Dana White, TKO, as objectively as possible. Upon listening to what Paulie TV had to say, my ears perked up as well. I want to share my thoughts about Paulie’s questioning of the desired 2026 league of Turki and Dana White.
Rankings and Pay Scales
The questions that arose were based on the leaking of incoming fighters’ pay scale and the ranking system by which the fighter will be paid. The reported pay scale was that of a newly signed beginning fighter. For those not sure what that is, it is what an amateur ready to turn pro would be guaranteed based on minimums.
It’s designed to pay fighters fairly based on a ranking system. It would start with being ranked at the bottom, and your pay would rise if, for instance, you rose to #15, then #10, then #5, and so on. How that differs from, say, a standout Olympian being signed by a major promoter currently is the stipulations would pay much higher for lesser fights, simply due to the talent’s pedigree.
Paulie asks why a top talent would go with Turkey only to be pigeonholed at minimums equal to far less talent, all the while travelling a much tougher road? This new league system of pay and rankings would make no sense to top tier future talents were they to start their careers with Turkis ‘TKO’.
Pros and Cons?
Paulie argues that the top talents are better suited going with established promoters like Top Rank for instance, because they have proven to be the best guides of talent. A top talent with Top Rank will be paid much more in guaranteed minimums as they travel the road to a championship. During this run, Top Rank will match them as carefully as possible, usually between 10 to 15 fights, which fans consider cannon fodder or padding the record level of fights. Paulie says this is good for the young up-and-coming fighter.
Elaborating that once they get to the sanctioning bodies rankings their pay will significantly increase. As a fan, we see Top Rank is one of the best at guiding (i.e., manufacturing) their talent. Case in point just recently, Keyshawn Davis. Davis was considered a top-level talent upon turning pro. Top Rank has been able to build Keyshawn into a champion without much trouble.
Keyshawn was able to pad his record with 10 to 12 fights of relative cannon fodder. Allowing him to be placed in a prime position with a ranking organization like the WBO until he was given a title shot. Davis was fortunate enough that he was with Top Rank, who also had the champion at the time, Denys Berinchyk, thus making a fight for the title easy for them to make. The caveat is that Berinchyk was seen as the weakest link champion. Paulie would say this situation is good for the fighter. Davis was able to make a small fortune fighting less than stellar competition, on the road to becoming a champion where he will make a lot more money.
Paulie Says TKO Has Different Plans
Depending on how you look at the Keyshawn Davis situation, fans may see this as good for the fighter but bad for boxing. Based on Paulie’s finding of how TKO plans to pay their young up-and-coming fighters, it looks like the old way of building a fighter will be a thing of the past. Paulie thinks that the way TKO plans to build their champions will ultimately turn out to be good for the company but bad for the fighters.
Young talent that signs with Dana White and TKO will not be paid well in order to feast on cab drivers they can pummel for a glossy 30-0 record with 27kos. No, the outline seems to have the young fighters matched tough from day one. They will be paid decently based on their performance. On the outside, it seems fair, but not to Paulie. He sees this as a major problem if you want to build major boxing stars.
The main argument, which seems to make a lot of sense, is the simple one, that by the time the young talent reaches the top, they will be burnt out. Paulie, having been a fighter, claims that in boxing, it is not possible to have tough fight after tough fight. A group of top boxers consistently fighting each other in grueling fights will lead to nobody being able to ascend and become a global superstar.
They will all knock each other off, and their skills and bodies will erode too quickly to have long-sustaining careers like the legends of the past. The Durans, Leonard’s, De La Hoyas, and Canelos, contrary to belief, were carefully matched and guided. They did not fight killer after killer, believe it or not. They had stretches of mediocre opponents, took time off, or did not take certain fights.
On the way up the ladder, they didn’t fight the top guys right away. Pauli says that’s just how boxing works, and that’s how you can manage and build guys that have 10, 15, or even 20-year careers. In the TKO format, you’d be lucky to have a reigning champion for over 2 years. With TKO, yes, you would get great matchups from young contenders to champions, but it would not last long. After a few years, your talent pool would be severely depleted. For young fighters, that means by going with TKO, you may take too much damage on your way to a championship that your run will be very short indeed. And then what?
For the fans is Paulie correct or is he too stuck in the old ways of the boxing business? And if it were your son that is fighting, which route would you guide him? I agree with Paulie for the most part. I think TKO will be good for the fans but bad for the fighters in the long run.
Last Updated on 03/28/2025
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