In Open Letter, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman’s Last Stand Against Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act H.R. 4634, and UBOs supported by Dana White and TKO
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Mexico City, Mexico (January 23rd, 2026)– As of January 2026, the Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act, H.R. 4634, heavily supported by Dana White and TKO, is moving forward after clearing a key U.S. House committee. The legislation aims to create Unified Boxing Organizations, also called UBOs, to modernize boxing, allowing promoters to run their own rankings and titles, similar to the UFC model, while adding minimum pay and insurance requirements. Dana White claims the original Ali Act will remain intact, with the new bill providing more options for fighters rather than replacing existing structures.
H.R. 4634 passed the House Committee on Education and the Workforce by a 30-4 vote on January 21, 2026. It now proceeds to the House floor. The proposed Changes are the updated bill, in its present form, increases minimum pay to 200 dollars per round, and doubles the required medical insurance to fifty thousand dollars.
Using Zuffa Boxing, Dana White intends to implement a UFC-style, single-entity structure, bypassing traditional sanctioning bodies like the WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO, IBA, and other boxing sanctioning bodies, whose existence would be phased out in favor of Dana White’s UFC league structure, which would take over worldwide professional boxing and professional MMA.
Critics, including promoters and some former fighters, argue that the bill will lead to further fighter exploitation and reduce the freedom established by independent bodies competing with each other in favor of promoters to act as sanctioning bodies.
The World Boxing Council President, Mauricio Sulaimán, is a staunch defender of the existing Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, viewing it as essential for protecting fighters’ rights, safety, and financial transparency. Sulaiman opposes new, competing structures like Zuffa Boxing, which he believes could monopolize the sport, reduce fighter revenue, and undermine the traditional, open-market ecosystem of boxing.
Sulaimán feels the current Ali Act, which features 80/20 revenue splits and has financial transparency, ensures absolute protection for boxers, which he argues is absent in MMA-style, centralized, or corporate-run leagues. Sulaiman has expressed deep concerns regarding initiatives like the Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act, viewing them as attempts to create a monopoly. which could see fighter pay drop significantly compared to the current sanctioning body structure.
Sulaimán champions the current, traditional, open-market boxing model/ Sulaiman has maintained a critical stance against Zuffa Boxing and design, criticizing its intent to disrupt the established, regulated, and safe structure that the WBC has cultivated for decades.
In Mauricio Sulaimán’s view, any modernization of the Act must not be used to weaken the financial rights of fighters or centralize power in a way that hurts the ecosystem of the sport of boxing. His open letter, though expressing a positive belief everything will be alright, is actually an expression of great concern for pending legislation, which if it clears the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and is subsequently signed by president Donald Trump, would change the nature of professional boxing forever by giving the UFC a monopoly over boxing, MMA, titular belts, purses and endorsements.
Open Letter of WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman
“Everything is going to be all right. Unfortunately, our sport is currently in the headlines all over the world, but for the wrong reasons. A powerful entity worth billions of dollars is shouting in an attempt to make itself heard regarding its intent to enter boxing and dominate the sport while eliminating promoters and sanctioning organizations. Their aim to alter the landscape of boxing in the pursuit of profit cannot be ignored, and it needs to be seen for what it is: an attempted takeover of the people’s sport, which should not be owned or dominated by a single entity.
Those efforts include spending millions of dollars to modify or introduce new laws in the United States of America, and they have used money and influence to buy testimonials and promote scripted interviews on networks that they own. Money can buy many things. However, no one is rich enough to buy back their past or erase their actions, which are facts. Glory, history, reputation, service, and integrity can never be bought. It is as simple as that.
Boxing is the greatest sport in the world. It is the one (sport which) offers opportunities to those who come from humble beginnings and overcome obstacles, hoping to become someone in life—those girls and boys who dream of winning a gold medal for their country or winning the WBC Green Belt to become world champions.
The only reason the WBC exists is for the boxers: before, during, and after their years in the ring. In these times of uncertainty, fighters all over the world who have worked tirelessly to achieve everything they have earned should know that the World Boxing Council has their backs, and it will continue to do so unconditionally.
Boxing is comprised of the WBC, WBO, IBF, and WBA (major world and regional) titles. Those titles mean the world to those who are able to conquer them. Boxing has promoters such as PBC, Top Rank, Golden Boy, Matchroom, Queensberry, Teiken, Sampson Boxing, Zanfer, Latin KO, Don King Promotions, and hundreds of other companies around the world. These companies promote boxing within an industry that provides opportunities to boxers in a free market where the majority of the money generated in each event goes to the boxers themselves, period.
There is no entity, league, person, or champion larger than the sport. Boxing is a worldwide sport that has thrived for 150 years and counting, giving millions of fans memories they will remember for a lifetime. Boxing has also evolved and changed its rules, continuing to do so in order to make the sport safer for those who enter the ring. Don’t worry. Everything will be all right. Just keep doing what you do. Long live boxing!”
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