From the moment Zuffa Boxing was formally announced, the organization's plans have come under criticism from several sections of the boxing establishment, including rival promoters and sanctioning bodies. At the Zuffa Boxing 03 post-fight press conference in Las Vegas on Sunday, Zuffa Boxing head Dana White said that he hadn't responded directly to those critics until now. But on Sunday night White expressed surprise at the relative lack of opposition from critics as Zuffa Boxing has gotten underway with its first three shows. "What's been the biggest pushback? [laughs] There hasn't been any pushback. This is like beating up babies," White stated. "I feel like I came in and I'm beating up babies. I expected more. I expected some pushback. I expected them to be more game. They're all way out of their league, like absolutely, positively out of their league. I'm actually a little shocked." The lack of a coordinated response from Zuffa's competition has also been noticed by Boxingtalk's Charles Muniz.

 

White then addressed some of the bigger names who have taken aim at his plans. "Listen, I don't like coming into these things and talking too much, but at the end of this year, just watch," he said. "I haven't said anything about [Matchroom Boxing's] Eddie Hearn. Me and [Golden Boy Promotions' Oscar] De La Hoya are what we are. The WBC... I haven't said anything about (them). They don't stop talking – the WBC and Eddie Hearn... And all the s*** De La Hoya talks ... The guy is talking all this s***, and his [office building is reportedly] is in foreclosure. He's suing his fighters [Vergil Ortiz, Jr.] to try to stay with him. Has Oscar done a 'Clapback Thursday' recently? I would f***ing love to see an episode of 'Clapback Thursday' this Thursday from Oscar De La Hoya. But yeah. Everybody feels it. It's already happening, and it's going to be a fun year."

 

And on the topic of the WBC, White also had some words for WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman. "I think that the guy from the WBC is the greatest public relations thing to ever happen for Zuffa Boxing," he smiled. "I mean, that guy should just keep doing interviews every day! Keep talking, it's incredible! Love it!"

 

White also said that boxing's establishment are welcome to continue doing what they're doing, but he's confident that Zuffa Boxing's approach will prove to be a gamechanger for the sport as things progress and plans start to come to fruition. "Like I said, I'll lay out a body of work this year, and then you can judge me by how this thing plays out," reiterated White. "But, you know, everybody knows that this thing's been broken for a long time. I said what I was going to do. I've never said anything bad about the WBC or the IBF or any of them. I just said I'm not going to do business with them – I'm going to do my own thing." Editor's note: White will soon have a big decision to make about doing business with the IBF. Zuffa Boxing 04 is scheduled to have Jai Opetaia fight for the inaugural Zuffa cruiserweight title -- but Opetaia is the reigning IBF champion and is not expected to give up his title to fight under the Zuffa banner.

 

"And then I saw Eddie Hearn saying that the belt is cringy and all this stuff. I don't think anybody looks at Eddie Hearn and says, 'Oh, this guy's a visionary.' The guy's been in boxing forever. I look at him like most politicians. You've done nothing in the sport except stay in the lane, and play by all the rules, and ride right along. You ended up becoming part of the problem, is what happened. And I don't want to sit here and smash Eddie Hearn or anything else, but Eddie Hearn works for his dad, you know what I mean? He works for dad. And I don't think he's come in and ever had any type of vision, whereas we do, and we're going to change the entire sport.

 

"And I understand the people who are the status quo in boxing don't like it, but it doesn't mean they can't still do their thing. If your thing is as good as you think it is, and you are as good as you think you are, then do your thing. Good luck to you. I'm going to do my thing, and they're going to do theirs."

 

White later added, "The sport has been out there for over 100 years, and there's plenty of guys that are involved in the sport. There's plenty of money in the sport... Eddie Hearn and his dad have a lot of money – not like they can't compete (financially). They can't compete because they don't know how to compete. There's no vision there. I don't know how else to explain it other than that. Listen, I'm sitting here, my third fight in. I'm either right or I'm wrong – we'll find out. I keep saying it over and over again – at the end of the year, judge us by what we've done this year."