On a recent podcast episode, Tony Bellew sat alongside UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall and spoke candidly about the Ali Act, Zuffa Boxing, and pay in the UFC.
Discussing the possibility of the Ali Act being overturned, Bellew made it clear he believes it would be disastrous for boxing.
“If the Ali Act gets turned over, it’s the worst thing ever. And it can’t be,” Bellew said. “It would be the most frightening thing that would happen to boxing ever, cuz it would just ruin the whole bit.”
He argued that the issue goes beyond business or money and centers on too much power being concentrated in one place.
“It’s not even about the business model and the money,” he continued. “You’re allowing one man to control the whole narrative and he is controlling everything that involves the boxer. And understand this, he ain’t even competing.”
Bellew also claimed that most major boxing promoters oppose the act because it was designed to protect boxers.
“The only people who want the Ali Act put in place is Zuffa. Nobody else wants it in place,” Bellew said. “No other boxing. Golden Boy don’t want it. Top Rank don’t want it. Don King doesn’t want it. Eddie Hearn doesn’t want it. Matchroom don’t want it.”
“None of the other boxing organisations want this in place. None of them,” he added. “Why? Because they understand why it was put in place. It’s to benefit the boxers.”
Bellew then referenced Muhammad Ali while explaining why the legislation carries his name.
“Muhammad Ali’s probably the most well-known face that’s ever graced this earth,” he said. “There’s a reason that Act’s being put in place in his name. It helps and saves boxers.”
For Bellew, one of the most important parts of the Ali Act is the separation between managers and promoters.
“That’s, for me, possibly the most important part of the Ali Act,” Bellew explained. “Something that our British Boxing Board won’t implement, which is disgusting.”
He argued that having one person serve as both manager and promoter creates a conflict of interest for boxers.
“The manager and the promoter are supposed to argue with each other to get the best for the boxer,” Bellew said. “If the manager and the promoter is the same person, which is an argument I had in court, which I won, then who’s going to be for the boxer? He can’t argue with himself.”
Bellew also used the UFC as an example of what happens when a single entity controls nearly every aspect of the sport.
“In mixed martial arts, the earning potential and the revenue comes when he gets to the top,” he said. “But believe you me, before he’s got that belt, the revenue is probably the same as me as a four or six round boxer.”
He went on to criticize how little many boxers earn before becoming champions.
“That’s how embarrassing it is in his discipline,” Bellew continued, “because one man owns the whole project. One man is in control of everything you earn and what you can monopolise.”
Bellew closed by stressing that boxers, not promoters or executives, are the reason fans tune in.
“No one come to see your bald head sitting there,” he said. “They all come to see what these two guys are doing in the ring. And it’s them guys that should be taking the lion’s share.”
“I don’t care about your background and that you built this infrastructure from scratch,” Bellew added. “You didn’t bleed. You didn’t sweat. You didn’t take the punishment to help build all this. These boys in here did.”
