The continuing debate over the way forward for skilled boxing regulation intensified just lately when WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán appeared on The Ariel Helwani Present to handle feedback made by WWE President and TKO Group Holdings government Nick Khan.
Khan’s remarks got here throughout a December 2025 interview on The Pat McAfee Present, the place he mentioned TKO’s ambitions for Zuffa Boxing and critiqued present sanctioning our bodies, together with private references to Sulaimán.
Key Quotes from Nick Khan on The Pat McAfee Present
Khan questioned the observe of stripping titles over unpaid charges, citing Terence Crawford’s state of affairs submit his struggle with Canelo Álvarez:
“To begin with, on the Terence Crawford facet… Terence Crawford unanimously gained that championship. So, how, in actual fact, is it two and a half months later that he’s now not the champion…? As a result of he didn’t pay a charge?”
“That might be akin to the Los Angeles Dodgers… having gained a grueling seven-game World Collection… It will be like if Main League Baseball got here to them and stated, ‘Nicely, you didn’t pay us a charge, so that you’re now not the World Collection champion.’ It’s solely on this sport of boxing the place you see nonsense like this.”
On sanctioning charges and the worth of belts:
“3% [sanctioning fee] is a money seize… to hold a inexperienced belt.”
“The belts imply nothing.”
Khan additionally commented personally on Sulaimán’s requests round main occasions:
“By the way in which, the gentleman who runs that group [misnaming it as ‘World Boxing Confederation’]… That is imagined to be a non-profit group. Going into Canelo-Crawford, stated he couldn’t keep in a daily lodge room. He wanted a set. He wished to verify his tickets have been entrance row. He wished to verify there was an ample variety of tickets. All of it appears fairly odd to me {that a} sport can be run that means.”
Khan supported enhancements to the Muhammad Ali Act to supply various choices for fighters and promoters.
Mauricio Sulaimán’s Response on The Ariel Helwani Present
Within the section, host Ariel Helwani performed clips of Khan’s interview, prompting an in depth and animated response from Sulaimán. He defended WBC protocols and criticized the tone of Khan’s remarks.
On Khan misnaming the group:
“He doesn’t even know the title of the WBC… World Boxing Confederation.”
On the characterization of his feedback as “low class”:
“What he says… it’s so low class.”
Sulaimán defined the rationale behind WBC guidelines for lodging and tickets:
“The WBC guidelines state that the president will get a set when he goes to a struggle. Why a set? It’s to not be pretentious… We’ve got conferences with folks from around the globe, numerous materials… We convey activations, souvenirs to provide at gymnasiums. We’ve got employees. After I go to a struggle, 15-20 conferences with folks.”
“I don’t want tickets. I want my credential to work as supervisor. The foundations state that the WBC is entitled to a specific amount of tickets. These tickets are for some executives, or for some followers, or for some gymnasiums that we give away. Each struggle we’ve giveaway tickets.”
He rejected the private portrayal:
“So to attempt to painting that into me being conceited or being demanding, it’s such a low class motion.”
“I’m not into the recognition contest… However how low are you able to go to make use of that as ammunition as an alternative of speaking about boxing issues?”
Sulaimán contrasted the WBC’s mannequin with proposed alternate options:
“The realities are very completely different… After all there’s no sanction charges as a result of they take all the cash. It’s ridiculous… When you examine one to the opposite, it’s not apples to apples.”
