Amer Abdallah, President of MF Pro Boxing and a Global Boxing Advisor, has issued an open letter to boxing's next generation of international talent, arguing that fighters who ignore the business side of the sport surrender control of their careers. The letter, addressed to fighters, managers, and young promoters, draws on Abdallah's more than three decades in combat sports as an undefeated professional kickboxer, manager, promoter, and executive.
Abdallah's central warning is that boxing has outgrown a single country or time zone. Fighters now build careers that move through the United States, the UK, the Middle East, Africa, and everywhere in between inside a single year. That shift raises the stakes for athletes who are unprepared for contracts, sanctioning bodies, and promotional structures that determine whether a fight happens on fair terms.
"A fighter who understands the business behind the fight has more control over his own career," Abdallah said. "That understanding does not come from one conversation. It comes from paying attention long before you need it. I've always said this is a business disguised as a sport, and the remains true in every facet of a fighters career."
Abdallah speaks from direct experience. He promoted his own fights through Lace Up Promotions while still competing, retiring in 2018 with an 18-0 record and a WKA Cruiserweight World Championship. That dual role shaped his approach to advising athletes about the commercial realities of the sport.
Representation is another point of emphasis. Abdallah's work managing three-division world champion Badou Jack gave him a close view of what long-term representation looks like, and he cited relationships across the careers of Mike Tyson, Roy Jones Jr., Viddal Riley, KSI, and Caleb Plant as evidence that planning matters as much as any single bout. "A single fight can change a career," Abdallah said. "But the relationships and the planning around it are what make the next ten fights possible."
His advice to young fighters is blunt: a manager's job is not to get you a fight but to get you a career. Abdallah recalled earning $250 in his professional debut, a reminder that early offers are often accepted without considering whether they fit a fighter's five-year goals.
The letter also addresses boxing's shifting center of gravity toward the Middle East. Abdallah has worked on major boxing initiatives in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Libya, and the UAE, including an executive role with Skill Challenge Entertainment during a period of rapid growth for the sport in the region. He cautioned that these markets are not an extension of American boxing with a different backdrop; they have their own expectations, stakeholders, and pace.
"Opportunity in a new market goes to the people who understand how that market actually works," Abdallah said. "Not to the people who assume throwing money at it will build it."
Abdallah's message for fighters entering the sport comes down to three habits he says matter more than talent alone: learn the business of boxing as distinct from the sport, carefully choose representation built around a full career and what a fighter wants in the end, and question everything. He also stressed that nothing replaces work in the gym and discipline between fights.
The implications extend beyond individual careers. As boxing's international footprint widens, fighters who lack business literacy and long-term representation may find themselves sidelined in negotiations, while promoters and managers who understand new markets stand to gain disproportionate influence. For a sport increasingly driven by cross-border deals, Abdallah's letter is a reminder that preparation, not just punching power, may determine who lasts.
