President of the WBC Mauricio Sulaiman is firm in his stance that HE Turki Alalshikh and Dana White's newly-formed TKO boxing promotion isn't of any concern to him.
Last week, HE Turki Alalshikh and TKO Group Holdings, Inc announced that they, along with entertainment conglomerate Sela, entered into a multi-year partnership that would establish a brand-new boxing league. TKO is the current parent company of the WWE and UFC.
Talent development, athlete combines and academies, access to the UFC Performance Institute for boxers and TKO's production and promotional expertise are just a handful of crucial features which will be poured into the project.
But there was also talk that boxing's four sanctioning bodies, the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF, along with some of boxing's leading promoters, would be frozen out of the sport in due time.
Sulaiman, however, isn't looking at the new promotion as a negative thing. He sees it as a 'good opportunity' for the sport, and also denied claims that his organization orchestrated a campaign where numerous boxers were posting support for the WBC in the wake of the TKO announcement.
He told
ESPN: "I have absolutely no concern or no negative views whatsoever [toward TKO boxing].
"I think anything that comes into boxing is sensational...I know a lot of people started speculating and finding conspiracy theories or whatever, but absolutely not.
"I think the WBC should make its position public, which is [TKO boxing] is a good opportunity because we have always supported any movement, any company, any tournaments that have been put together.
"I truly believe that with the multibillion joint venture that is supposed to be TKO and UFC and WWE and what His Excellency has done in just under two years, it should be a great thing for the sport."
Dana White, president of the UFC, made clear after the announcement of the new league that under their new rules, there would be one champion per weight class, rather than the current four per division.
He said: "There's going to be one belt...it'll be like the UFC. The model is the model that we have [in UFC].
"The WBC, IBF, WBA etc...they will deal with those traditional promoters that are out there that exist right now. We're not going to do that. We're going to have the basic weight classes that started everything. We will have one champion.
"And you know how you're going to know who the champion is because they're going to fight their way up through the gauntlet. And once you get into the top five, you know who the five baddest dudes in the heavyweight division are. And then you'll find out who the champion is. They will defend their titles and that's how it'll work."
White will be part of a two-man team, along with WWE president Nick Khan, to lead from an executive standpoint.
"I'm sure the WBC and the WBA and all those guys, they'll still exist. They just won't work with us," added White.
Alalshikh, head of Riyadh Season, revealed that women's boxing would be an integral part of TKO's new league, and that the WBC Boxing Grand Prix, which Sulaiman will help spearhead, will play a vital role in unearthing new talent.
He said: "The market is ready, but we need to have the right people. [White] is the only guy who can deliver this vision. He's a bulldozer."