After months of speculation on how UFC parent company, TKO Group Holdings Inc., would enter the world of boxing when many of their practices are not allowed under terms of the Muhammad Ali Act, we now have the answer. Last week (Weds., July 23, 2025), U.S. representatives Brian Jack and Sharice Davids introduced the Ali Revival Act in Congress that purports to fix several problems that they claim are holding the sport of boxing back in America.

The bill also carves out exceptions that TKO will use to have their own rankings and belts for their new boxing league, just like the UFC. That’s making a lot of boxing folk nervous, and not just because the UFC used their own belts to lock an iron grip around MMA so strong that they recently had to pay out over $375 million in antitrust / monopsony money to underpaid fighters.

The Ali Revival Act was revealed with a burst of publicity before many even got a chance to read it. Not only did it arrive with the support of Muhammad Ali’s widow Lonnie Ali, it purported to have the ‘unanimous support’ of the board of the Association of Boxing Commissions. But combat sports lawyer Erik Magraken questions how legitimate that is when there are major commissions and committees within the ABC that never saw the bill — including an Athlete’s Voice Committee that exists specifically to represent the fighters’ voices within the ABC.

“The Athletes’ Voice Committee never saw it,” Magraken told Boxing Scene. “The Athletes’ Voice Committee asked the ABC to share this with them to keep them in the loop. The Athletes’ Voice Committee was told that they would be kept in the loop and they weren’t kept in the loop.”

“Just like a Congress person, why would you vote yes for this or no for this if you haven’t consulted with the athletes, which the Ali Act was designed to protect athletes?” he asked. “So why wouldn’t you listen to athletes before changing the Ali Act? And if you’re a regulator, you’re there to protect athletes, right? Combat sports are regulated to protect athletes from exploitation and to have certain health and safety standards in place. Why wouldn’t you talk to athletes?”

“If you’re the ABC and you created an athletes’ committee, and that athletes’ committee wants to know what’s going on, why wouldn’t you loop them into the conversation?”

“So I don’t know why the ABC board unanimously is supporting this,” Magraken said. “And I’ve heard from some state athletic commissions – I’ve talked to a few commissioners, and they tell me they were not kept in the loop. So when the board says they unanimously support it, that doesn’t mean that all of the state commissions support this. A lot of the state commissions, from what I can tell, had never seen this bill before the ABC board was saying they approve it.”

“So I’m not sure what’s going on over there. But I think there’s a lot of scrutiny that’s required moving forward.”

It’s clear that TKO wants this bill to run through the political process fast. Whereas many bills are designed with the idea that implementation will take place over a year or two, the Ali Revival Act is set to be implemented in full a month after it’s passed. That fits in with the September to early 2026 timeline TKO is looking to launch their boxing endeavor.

Part of being able to pull off such a speedy move that could change the sport of boxing forever is presenting the appearance that everyone supports it. The name of the bill is genius in that regard. The approval of the Ali family as well, and the Association of Boxing Commissions. All of it has been presented to mainstream media in one big knockout punch via TKO’s parent company Endeavor, one of the most powerful entertainment agencies in the world. Even other boxing promoters are staying silent as TKO is partnered with boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh, who currently signing many of their cheques.

Those most affected — the boxers themselves — have a much smaller megaphone to voice their concerns, and no major unified body to help get their message out.

We can’t say for sure whether the Ali Revival Act would be good or bad for boxing. It’s got good and bad elements to it, and boxing certainly does seem like it needs a shot in the arm in America. But let’s be clear: this bill wouldn’t exist if TKO didn’t need to change the existing laws to allow them to run their boxing promotion like the UFC. That system that has resulted in fighters making roughly 17% of the revenue compared to athletes in other sports who make 50%.

Everything else is just window dressing.