'Can't live in the past' – Warren on boxing's future after 45 years as promoter
From starting out with shows in circus tents and ballrooms, to staging stadium events which have broken gate records while turning icons such as Prince Naseem Hamed and Ricky Hatton into world champions, a former solicitor's clerk has become one of the most famous faces in boxing.
Frank Warren has completed 45 years as a licensed boxing promoter, seeing off countless rivals, but with no desire to slow down any time soon.
The hall-of-famer, 73, still sees a bright future for the sport amid huge ongoing change – thanks to continued investment from Saudi Arabia and the emergence of new faces in the sport like Dana White's Zuffa Boxing.
Yet there are growing concerns about the grassroots level being left behind.
Warren believes boxing needs to continue to move with the times if it is to stay relevant and refers to his experience of working in the sport across five decades as evidence.
"You can't just live in the past," he said.
"If you live in the past that's where you wind up, dead. The past is dead."
This Saturday's world title clash between WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball and Brandon Figueroa in Liverpool is the latest world championship bout promoted by Warren – his tally stands at well over 200.
Speaking to BBC Sport, he looks towards what he would like to see happen in the next 45 years, including what needs to change for the health of the sport.
A worldwide medical and doping database but not one authority
Boxing is different to so many sports in that it doesn't have a single worldwide governing body.
There are sanctioning bodies who control titles and rankings instead, while national and regional authorities like the British Boxing Board of Control try to police the sport.
Warren, who will be 74 at the end of this month and has his son George working with him at Queensberry, does not see boxing one day getting a Fifa equivalent.
He does believe the sport needs a centralised database of boxer medicals and doping history.
"If there's one governing body, there'll be one ratings panel. There'll be one person or one committee saying who's fighting who, that's not right," says Warren.
"[But] what I'd like to see in the next 45 years is all the governing bodies working to get a combined database of all the medicals of all the boxers so everyone knows what's happening, because that is one of the big problems and [it relates to] drug taking."
In July 2025, Francisco Rodriguez Jr fought and beat Galal Yafai in Birmingham, but the Briton's team were unaware he had failed a drug test in America six months previously.
The Mexican then failed another drug test following his win over Yafai and there has been no update since from the British board, but Rodriguez fought in his homeland last October.
"We need to make sure the medical records are accessible, people can't just sod off and go and fight in a different area, country or jurisdiction," adds Warren.
"You've seen it happen many, many times. People going to Texas or Florida who were banned in the UK, for example. That's all wrong."
Can Zuffa Boxing succeed in the long term?
Zuffa Boxing, backed by UFC chief White, WWE's Nick Khan and Saudi Arabian finances, has recently entered the sport.
Their plans include a league-style format and one belt under their promotion, pending amendments to the Muhammad Ali Act in the US.
Warren is not on board with one belt in the sport and doesn't see how that takes off in the future – although he admits having four sanctioning bodies is too much, with the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF all having world titles in each division.
"I don't think it is right," he adds. "I can go back to when I was a kid and there was basically, when it was one entity or two, WBA and WBC – there were fighters getting parked up and not fighting for world titles for years.
"Four governing bodies is too much. However, it does keep it moving. There are lots of title fights going on and what we do get is unifications.
"When an unification fight happens, it's a big, big thing."
TV viewing will continue to evolve
Boxing's TV situation is complex.
There are many in the sport who fear more major fights going onto streaming platforms isn't good for the long-term future, while others argue they need to move with changing viewing habits.
Warren is one of them after Queensberry moved to DAZN in 2025 after being with TNT Sports and previously on BoxNation and Sky Sports.
"EastEnders at one time had 15 million, 20 million people watching," he recalls.
"They're lucky to get three now. What fans are watching and how they're watching is different now.
"I talk to my grandkids all the time and they hardly watch TV. They get most of their entertainment through YouTube."
BBC has recently returned to boxing alongside Boxxer, while Sky Sports have teamed up with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions (MVP).
Netflix showed Anthony Joshua v Jake Paul and will broadcast Tyson Fury's comeback against Arslanbek Makhmudov in April which suggest they're becoming a serious player.
While TV and pay-per-view remains a huge source of income, Warren believes the live gate will remain key in the next decades, but says there needs to be innovation for the viewing audience.
"It's all about how the public change," he says. "The live gate's always going to be there.
"I've seen what they're doing with some football matches now with big screens, which are like a 3D sort of situation. That's very interesting.
"The name of the game for any sport, any promoter is to capitalise on how technology is changing, generate income that makes the show a bigger show, makes it successful.
"And the bottom line of it is [to make sure] the fighters do really, really well."
