Chairman Turki Alalshikh Wants to Seize Boxing for Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has made its imprint in boxing in the last few years. Spearheaded by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, the Middle Eastern nation is on a quest to become the sport’s epicenter, with Alashikh being the sport’s most influential power broker.
Alalshikh is the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and has been given financial backing by the Saudi King and Crown Prince. He stated his goal is to bring big-time boxing to the country, during an exclusive interview with DAZN Boxing.
The Saudi chairman acknowledged that part of his motivation is because he’s dealt with some health issues over the past five years. But he’s also a big fan of the sport. Alalshikh believes boxing has failed as a business model.
STATE OF THE GAME
His Excellency and a group of advisors and consultants have studied the sport extensively. He broke down how, in his view, where the sport took a downturn.
“There are a lot of reasons. Fighters are not as charismatic. There are a lot of problems with promoters. They don’t want to do the strongest fights because it costs a lot. Some fighters don’t want to fight the strongest fights, and there are four belts . . . Also, you need to catch the younger generation.”
“We are coming up with a new strategy . . . to do and deliver to the market. The best fights at a good price, and make the fights the people want to see. We don’t want to waste time.”
MAKING THEIR MARK
The roots of their foray into the sport began in December 2019 when Saudi Arabia secured the rights to stage the rematch between Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua for the unified heavyweight championship. Things have only skyrocketed since.
Saudi Arabia has hosted a series of cards from 2020 to 2023. They staged the massive Day of Reckoning event in December 2023. That fight card was highlighted by Joseph Parker’s upset victory over Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua’s impressive fifth-round stoppage over Otto Wallin.
In February 2024, Saudi Arabia is the location for the contest for the undisputed heavyweight championship between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. The country will host the battle between Joshua and MMA star Francis Ngannou in March 2024. Alalshikh also hopes to stage a potential fight for undisputed status at 175 between light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
For years, Las Vegas was the unofficial capital of the sport when it came to high-profile, big-money fights. If His Excellency has his way, that is about to change.
