The ongoing debate over the future of professional boxing regulation intensified recently when WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show to address comments made by WWE President and TKO Group Holdings executive Nick Khan.

Khan’s remarks came during a December 2025 interview on The Pat McAfee Show, where he discussed TKO’s ambitions for Zuffa Boxing and critiqued existing sanctioning bodies, including personal references to Sulaimán.

Key Quotes from Nick Khan on The Pat McAfee Show

Khan questioned the practice of stripping titles over unpaid fees, citing Terence Crawford’s situation post his fight with Canelo Álvarez:

“First of all, on the Terence Crawford side… Terence Crawford unanimously won that championship. So, how, in fact, is it two and a half months later that he’s no longer the champion…? Because he didn’t pay a fee?”

“That would be akin to the Los Angeles Dodgers… having won a grueling seven-game World Series… It would be like if Major League Baseball came to them and said, ‘Well, you didn’t pay us a fee, so you’re no longer the World Series champion.’ It’s only in this sport of boxing where you see nonsense like this.”

On sanctioning fees and the value of belts:

“3% [sanctioning fee] is a cash grab… to carry a green belt.”

“The belts mean nothing.”

Khan also commented personally on Sulaimán’s requests around major events:

“By the way, the gentleman who runs that organization [misnaming it as ‘World Boxing Confederation’]… This is supposed to be a non-profit organization. Going into Canelo-Crawford, said he couldn’t stay in a regular hotel room. He needed a suite. He wanted to make sure his tickets were front row. He wanted to make sure there was an ample number of tickets. It all seems quite odd to me that a sport would be run that way.”

Khan supported enhancements to the Muhammad Ali Act to provide alternative options for fighters and promoters.

Mauricio Sulaimán’s Response on The Ariel Helwani Show

In the segment, host Ariel Helwani played clips of Khan’s interview, prompting a detailed and animated response from Sulaimán. He defended WBC protocols and criticized the tone of Khan’s remarks.

On Khan misnaming the organization:

“He doesn’t even know the name of the WBC… World Boxing Confederation.”

On the characterization of his comments as “low class”:

“What he says… it is so low class.”

Sulaimán explained the rationale behind WBC rules for accommodations and tickets:

“The WBC rules state that the president gets a suite when he goes to a fight. Why a suite? It’s not to be pretentious… We have meetings with people from around the world, a lot of material… We bring activations, souvenirs to give at gymnasiums. We have staff. When I go to a fight, 15-20 meetings with people.”

“I don’t need tickets. I need my credential to work as supervisor. The rules state that the WBC is entitled to a certain amount of tickets. Those tickets are for some executives, or for some fans, or for some gymnasiums that we give away. Every fight we have giveaway tickets.”

He rejected the personal portrayal:

“So to try to portray that into me being arrogant or being demanding, it’s such a low class action.”

“I am not into the popularity contest… But how low can you go to use that as ammunition instead of talking about boxing things?”

Sulaimán contrasted the WBC’s model with proposed alternatives:

“The realities are very different… Of course there’s no sanction fees because they take all the money. It’s ridiculous… If you compare one to the other, it’s not apples to apples.”