Roy Jones Jr. fears Dana White’s influence will turn boxing into MMA

Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. was brutally honest in his assessment of Dana White's foray into boxing.

The MMA mogul, along with other parties, but nonetheless the figurehead of the movement, is working hard to 'amend' the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, so that newly minted promotion Zuffa Boxing can operate outside the norms of regular professional boxing. The Ali Act aims to protect fighters from exploitation by allowing for regulation and oversight by third parties, ensuring that fighters aren't being taken advantage of by monopolies.

There are other qualities, like financial transparency and safeguards against conflicts of interest. All of which the current UFC model doesn't follow. White and the other brass want to turn their boxing into a reflection of the UFC, as seen with the eerily similar production value of Canelo vs. Crawford earlier in September.

Roy Jones Jr.: Dana White and TKO's plans "very bad" for sport of boxing

Changes proposed by White's promotional company would enable Zuffa Boxing to manage its own titles and rankings. This would be achieved through 'Unified Boxing Organizations,' which were proposed in the Ali Act amendments, and would serve as alternatives to the long-established sanctioning bodies, such as the WBO, WBC, IBO, and IBF.

According to boxing royalty Roy Jones Jr., White's involvement in the sport isn't just problematic: it's a slippery slope to the erasure of boxing history as we know it. 'Superman' shared his thoughts with MMA Knockout in an interview facilitated by Titanplay.ca.

"So it's very bad for the sport of boxing," Jones said. "Because they're trying to turn boxing kind of into MMA, and that's not good. Boxing has too much history. Boxing came with those belts before they [UFC/MMA] got here.

"If you take that away from boxing, you're killing a lot of their history. And a lot of people, like myself, are not going to be happy with that. ... So I don't like it, no.

"... I don't think he'll [White will] be a positive. If he found out a way to work with the sanctioning bodies and do everything else, he'd be positive because he's done it with the UFC. So he'll be a positive."

Zuffa Boxing plans to return in 2026 with regular programming. Whether this rests on the outcome of the proposed Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act, remains to be seen.

Bonus: Does Roy Jones Jr. have any more fights planned?

Speaking exclusively with MMA Knockout, Jones explained he might have some fights cooking.

"I spoke to a guy over in Australia yesterday..." Jones said. "I've got a bad memory. But he was speaking about doing a boxing match. He was a kickboxer, former kickboxing champion. And he said he wanted to do an exhibition...

"... I told him I would be interested if the money was right, but I would also like to do it in the U.K. because I never got a chance to fight in the U.K.

"So if we got the money right... It may work for my wife. I'm going to try to get back in shape one more time. I'm going to have to do an exhibition with him in the U.K., but the money doesn't motivate me to go get in shape to do it. But if they did, I definitely would do an exhibition with him. And I would love to do it in the U.K. just so those fans can say they got an opportunity to see me perform once."

Jones last fought and defeated Robert Wilmote in an exhibition match in June 2023. His last professional fight was against Anthony Pettis in Gamebred Promotions, although he confirmed, "I haven't heard a single thing" from Gamebred or any other promotions, such as RIZIN.

Bonus: Roy Jones Jr. names best boxer from any era who would make the greatest MMA fighter

The former champion didn't look too far back in the history books when naming his fighter.

"Terrence Crawford," He remarked. "Because he had the wrestling background. So it wouldn't be nothing new to him to be into grappling and all that. He had a wrestling background and he knows how to do all that.

"So he would be the best one about anybody because he's physically strong. He knows the whole wrestling ring. That's why I knew Canelo wouldn't be too big for him because he knows that game. He's been down and away with the wrestling. He knows how to do all that. That's the outcome. So he actually has a wrestling background. Most boxers, they don't have no Taekwondo. They don't have no wrestling. They don't have none of that. You see?

"He has a background that could facilitate all of it so he could do the grappling well. The only thing he had to get was to know how to kick a little bit and a dependent kick. He got to strike him down there for sure. So he got one thing he had to work on. He has a defensive kicking and he's good."

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