Saudi Arabia Aims to Crown Boxing King, Sparks Fan Concerns

By Jamie Eskdale - 01/23/2024 - Comments

The Saudis are looking to revive boxing worldwide and create the biggest fight, beginning with last month’s ‘Day of Reckoning’ card, which saw an odd match-up with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury fighting the non-boxer Francis Ngannou in a strange non-title fight.

Saudis Putting on Massive Events

Next, Turki Alalshikh is staging the Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This is another massive card with cruiserweight Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis fighting for the vacant IBF title in a rematch.

Alalshikh isn’t just focused on the heavyweight division. That was just for starters. He also wants to make huge fights in other divisions and has expressed interest in putting together a fight between 135-lb champion Gervonta Davis and WBC 140-lb champ Devin Haney, which could involve much work in piecing that one together.

Some fans see those two fighters as being spoiled and intractable. If the Saudis do create a fight between Haney & Tank, it could make the winner impossible to deal with for other promoters due to their purse demands.

Downside of Fights In Saudi

While it’s great that the Saudis are putting on fights in their country, it leaves out American and UK boxing fans, who are unable to attend the fights live due to the high cost and hassle of traveling to Saudi Arabia to watch them live.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn realizes what could happen if all the fighters from the UK are fighting offshore in Saudi Arabia and can no longer see the best fights live. You lose those fans permanently as they drift away to other sports.

Another problem that Saudi involvement creates is the aforementioned money issues. With Alalshikh paying the fighters an unworldly amount of money, it will spoil them, setting things up to where they’ll expect the same purse amounts from their promoters in the UK and the U.S.

When the fighters don’t get that money, they’ll sit inactive, waiting until they get their way. With the millions the Saudis are paying these fighters, they’ll be wealthy enough to sit inactive until the promoters in the U.S. and UK meet their demands.

It won’t work because the promoters aren’t going to be willing to overpay like the Saudis for fighters to compete in events that bomb badly on PPV. The Saudis can afford events to lose money because they’ve got the revenue from the oil. The promoters in the United States and the United Kingdom don’t have that luxury.