Essential The Official Boxing Random Thoughts Thread...All boxing heads ENTER.

desjardins

desjardins

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FreedMind said:
Is PBC still going? Have they released a schedule?
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The Benavidez Morrel PPV, Tank Roach PPV, and Spence Fundora PPV are all on the horizon to varying extents. I think Tszyu got something coming up too
But those also probably will barely break even depending on what the guarantees are....so what's the point. It's probably better for Haymon and the fighters if he just "advises" them on Turki cards and takes his cut while the fighters stay more active and get more checks.
 
Liu Kang

Liu Kang

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Only issue there is with what Turki is doing right now is unsustainability of his method.

The reason he's able to make those fights is just that he has limitless pockets so fighters don't have to negotiate as much because they are paid regardless. Hown many mega fights were profitable in the past 10 years ?
 
Black_Jesus

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from the home of coca-cola, i'm not referring to s
Liu Kang said:
Only issue there is with what Turki is doing right now is unsustainability of his method.

The reason he's able to make those fights is just that he has limitless pockets so fighters don't have to negotiate as much because they are paid regardless. Hown many mega fights were profitable in the past 10 years ?
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his method isn't an issue thoughg.. not for someone with limitless pockets
 
desjardins

desjardins

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Liu Kang said:
Only issue there is with what Turki is doing right now is unsustainability of his method.
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A Lot of the money is probably coming from the Saudi sports fund, so these purses are like a rounding error to them

He has a long term plan to make boxing popular in Saudi Arabia, so it's going to be a least a couple of years I think

Carl Froch interviewed him recently and criticized the environment of the Riyadh season cards and Turki had a interesting comparison to Japanese crowds

Turki Alalshikh wants to create a love of boxing in the Middle East

Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi Arabian impresario steering the General Entertainment Authority, has a vision: to kindle a passion for boxing in the Middle East. In a candid conversation with former world champion Carl Froch, Alalshikh outlined his ambitious plans to transform the regional sports landscape.

Over the past three years, Saudi Arabia has hosted more than 20 world championship fights, including two undisputed title bouts, with a third on the horizon. When asked if he was happy with the way things are going with the new Riyadh Season concept, Alalshikh responded, “Whose answer this is the fans. Okay, but not me, but we are trying to deliver the best card and the best fight who the people want and dream of it. And actually a lot of promoters and a lot doesn’t take this risk. And we take this risk. You see what happened in the last 40 months, especially we have more than 20 world champion fights and two undisputed. And we will have the third in February and next month.”


Although his English is broken, you get the meaning. And just in case you missed it, Alalshikh drives his point home by saying, “We change all the map in the last 40 months.”

Then Turki went on the offensive, asking Froch, a vocal critic of boxing in Saudi Arabia what he thought the problem was. “What is you think is wrong in your opinion? Sometimes you talk about the atmosphere and I can understand it. But you see in the last fight, especially you come and see it was good atmosphere. It is different culture between countries and countries. In Japan sometimes, if you go to Japan and see the fights, you will not hear anything. They are very quiet. It was like that in Germany actually when Spanak used to fight. He boxed Robin Reed and they were sitting down at ringside clapping.”


Froch answered honestly, if a little defensively, “I wouldn’t say there’s anything wrong with it, even though initially I was critical of it because the word to use is different. It’s different.”

Alalshikh admitted that this was true but countered with his vision for Saudi, saying, “You are right, but we are improve day by day. The last card you see, it’s improving because our people also, we want to catch the youngest generation and make them love the sport. And they start to love it and they start to know the fighters and we build from there.”

63% of Saudis are under 30 which is a new young demographic for the audience. Alalshikh notes that since this project began, the interest in boxing has exploded in Saudi with the newly franchised Mike Tyson gym there training over 200 young Saudi fighters. But, he emphasizes that it is not just about Saudi Arabia.

“Any talent in anywhere around the world, if they accept it. Yeah, that will build a younger demographic and get them involved. This is what also what I am trying to buy my own money to do in the Ring magazine and the Ring stuff. I just buy it from two months and we will have a new start, inshallah, soon.”

Alalshikh’s recent acquisition of The Ring magazine for $10 million signals a broader ambition to elevate boxing’s profile globally. His efforts have not gone unnoticed; in December 2024, the World Boxing Council honored him with the prestigious “Man of the Year” award, previously bestowed upon luminaries like Nelson Mandela and Pope Francis.

When Froch pressed him on which fights he wants to make, Alalshikh said, “I want to see also, of course, Tyson and Joshua. [Moses] Itauma, I think he deserve to have a chance to be the youngest world heavyweight champion. And in the American market, I want to see Canelo Crawford. I want to see Garcia Haney, the rematch. That’s a rematch I want to see.”
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