After years of operating outside boxing’s mainstream, Dana White is finally set to enter the sport. Four months after Zuffa demonstrated its capabilities by hosting the Terence Crawford-Canelo Alvarez superfight, the new promotion enters a new chapter with its first event under the Paramount deal. With Zuffa and the backing of TKO and Riyadh Season, White aims to fix a “broken sport.”

Yet despite their sincerity, those intentions could lead to a prolonged battle. Having seen some of the darkest chapters in the sport, close friend and associate Mike Tyson knows what White is poised to face. He warns – the road ahead may be starkly unlike what White witnessed in MMA.

Mike Tyson offers blunt advice to Dana White

During an interview with Hard Rock Bet, Tyson revealed how boxing is structurally corrupt and murky. It is controlled by entrenched interests. So when asked whether White could overhaul the sport, Tyson replied, “Boxing was created broken, and it’s going to die broken. If Dana can fix it, I want to see it.”

There is a clear distinction between high-profile power brokers like Turki Alalshikh and the deeper network of promoters, managers, sanctioning bodies, and intermediaries. Those are the types of people Dana White would be dealing with, Tyson explained. The only way White could carve a path for himself would be by overpowering those interests politically and financially to impose his way of doing business.

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More often than not, deals in boxing are not transparent, he said. “There’s always something underneath the table that we don’t know about. That’s what I know. That’s the golden rule in boxing,” Iron Mike added. Essentially, Tyson wanted his friend to understand how boxing works. Trying to run it like the UFC will be extremely difficult.

Tyson’s cautionary advice followed a detailed comparison of boxing’s standing in the United States relative to the UFC. Understanding the difference could be critical for White and his team. He must navigate stakeholders with competing interests.

But he will also have to account for hardcore fans. They are traditionalists who stick with the sport even if its popularity dips.

Tyson’s advice aside, White has already begun adjusting his approach

“Even if it went on boxing on a hiatus, it had the hardcore fans; that’s enough that they could survive off,” Tyson said. The UFC may feel more exciting and better packaged as live entertainment right now, but boxing’s deep-rooted fan base means it is not going anywhere. White may therefore find himself caught between those polarized groups.

To that extent, he appears to have already taken steps. The Crawford-Canelo showdown revealed he is serious about his stated intention to stage fights between top contenders.

Now with Zuffa Boxing 1, questions have surfaced because no marquee fighters appear on the card. Yet with the signing of IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia and reports of talks involving Oleksandr Usyk, the broader plan may become clearer once some of the sport’s biggest names align with him to raise boxing’s profile.

Already a shift appears to have occurred in White’s camp. Where he once spoke of refusing to work with other sanctioning bodies and took a hard stance, he now seems more open to cooperation.

While White may be headed in a productive direction, Tyson offered one final piece of advice he believes could strengthen his position: “I think he would do well to have more options, and I think if he hired me, he would win totally.” Is Dana White listening?