Reports indicate Benn’s April 11 fight with Regis Prograis on the Netflix card is funded through Turki Alalshikh’s Sela backing slightly than routine promotional operating budgets. TKO president Mark Shapiro reinforced that distinction on a financial call, stating the purse is “Saudi money, not TKO money.” That clarification places Benn’s payday inside event-specific financing slightly than company baseline economics.
Haney understands the comparison because he defeated Prograis decisively in December 2023 to win the WBC junior welterweight title. If Prograis now appears opposite Benn in an eight-figure showcase, Haney can argue that the hierarchy supports a better valuation for the person who already won that matchup.
The complication is sustainability. Saudi-backed events operate through selective, state-supported funding that traditional American and British promoters don’t mirror. Haney competes primarily within the U.S. market, where pay-per-view sales and ticket revenue still determine how high purses can realistically climb. If he plants his price at Saudi levels, some promoters may simply walk away slightly than stretch their budgets to match it.
Volatility adds one other variable. Frank Warren’s Queensberry has reportedly filed legal motion against TKO and Sela related to the formation of Zuffa Boxing, creating uncertainty around the identical platform generating these headline figures. Legal disputes don’t robotically stop business, but they make deals harder to shut in a market still adjusting to latest money.
Haney occupies a industrial middle ground. Garcia has demonstrated major pay-per-view pull, while Stevenson’s status rests more heavily on skill recognition than large-event revenue. By elevating the Benn figure publicly, Haney compresses that perceived industrial separation and forces the market to re-evaluate value tiers in real time.
Whether the broader U.S. marketplace can sustain Saudi-level guarantees stays unresolved. What is obvious is that Haney has set his price in public, and the subsequent promoter who calls could have to reply it.