Dana White has a unique insight into the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao rematch scheduled for September this year.

The two boxing icons will face each other 11 years after their first meeting, which Mayweather won by unanimous decision, and both are now within 50 points of each other.

Although many fans doubt that the level of action guarantees a lot of excitementthe event headlining the first boxing card at The Sphere in Las Vegas, combined with the nostalgia, may prove to be reason enough to tune in.

Speaking at the Zuffa Boxing 04 post-fight press conference in which Jai Opetaia defeated Brandon Glanton for the promotion’s inaugural cruiserweight title, White was asked if he had any advice for the event at The Sphere.

“Who’s promoting? S**t. I wonder who’s paying for the production. They’re in for a large surprise. It’s incredibly high-priced. I wonder. Someone better call.”

Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 is directed by Manny Pacquiao Promotions with significant support from Netflix.

In September 2024, in a futuristic place, White organized the UFC 306 gala, the main attraction of which was the victory of Merab Dvalishvili over Sean O’Malley in the fight for the world bantamweight title. The “Noche UFC” event, which coincided with Mexico’s Independence Day weekend, was the first live sporting event held at the venue and generated record promotion.

Shortly after the event, said the UFC and Zuffa promoter: :

“When you see what we did at Sphere, it’s like, I don’t know if it’ll ever happen again. We spent over $20 million on it and it was a one-of-a-kind night, it was a fucking amazing night. If my production team doesn’t win every fucking award available in the production, all those awards will be shit.”

This seems to be an appropriate venue for the upcoming rematch, which, although professionally sanctioned, is more about the spectacle than the sporting merits. Few matchups in sports can justify the scale of need. Even in 2026, Mayweather and Pacquiao will fit into this plan.

The criticism came when reporters asked about the IBF’s decision earlier in the week to withdraw recognition of Opetai’s title defense during fight week. The sanctioning body initially approved the fight before changing course shortly before the event, leaving the IBF title on the line.

Dana said the situation reflects issues he has noticed since starting his playing career.

“This sport is broken for a reason,” Dana said during the press conference. “They’re all a bunch of rinky-dink.”

White continued the criticism by describing those involved in running the sport.

“These people are bad at what they do,” Dana said.

Dana also noted that Opetaia had already paid the sanction fee before the IBF withdrew recognition of the title defense.

Dana said his early boxing experiences surprised him with how the sport works and how many of its problems remain unresolved.

White said Zuffa plans to exploit the same promotional model that helped build the UFC. This approach focuses on acquiring players that the organization considers among the best in their divisions and organizing regular events built around recognizable names.

Dana also pointed to the number of promoters and sanctioning bodies operating in boxing as one of the reasons the sport is struggling to solve many of its long-standing problems. Several organizations sanction world championship titles in the sport, often requiring separate approval and fees when belts are put on the line.

White argued that the structure created complications when trying to stage major fights. The IBF situation surrounding the Opetaia fight was one of the first disputes between Zuffa Boxing and the classic sanctioning body since the promotion entered the sport.

The comments reflected Dana’s view that many of boxing’s problems stem from the way the sport is run.

Fabio Wardley had hoped to face Oleksandr Usyk in 2026, but Ukraine’s unified heavyweight ruler instead opted to fight Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on the left wing.

After knocking out Joseph Parker and winning the WBO interim heavyweight titleWardley has called for a showdown with Usyk, hoping to secure a shot at the coveted undisputed throne.

However, Usyk responded by vacating the WBO world title – as a result, Wardley was elevated to the world title – and he was linked with a return to fighting overseas in possible meetings with Deontay Wilder or Andy Ruiz Jr.

Instead, two weeks ago it was announced that Usyk would travel to Cairo, Egypt, to defend his WBC heavyweight title against Verhoeven, who boasts a professional boxing record of just 1-0.

In an interview with Boxing News, Wardley admitted that the news was “disappointing” for him and expressed hope that Usyk would return to “real” professional boxing soon.

“I think so [my reaction] he was just like the rest of the boxing world [the announcement] was quite disappointing. I understand that he has earned the right to do whatever he wants, but at least I expected that to be the case [against] energetic boxer.

“I don’t actually know much about Verhoeven in terms of his level of quality, but I expected it [the fight] to be against a professional boxer of decent caliber, but if you’re not, that’s fine, do your thing.

I hope he returns to real professional boxing against some of the top elites.”

The Usyk-Verhoeven gala will take place on Saturday, May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza, and Verhoeven has a chance to become the fastest world heavyweight champion in boxing history.