The Ring boxing magazine, also known as the “Bible of Boxing”, has been acquired by General Entertainment Authority (GEA) chairman and Riyadh Season organizer Turki Alalshikh, tying into the Saudi minister’s claims of a “new era” arriving for The Ring. Despite assertions that The Ring will operate independently, Alalshikh has taken reign of one of the most influential companies involved in boxing and the acquisition might be part of a grander plan by the GEA chairman.
Roughly a week ago, Turki Alalshikh announced The Ring Boxing Magazine would be undergoing drastic changes without explicitly revealing he had purchased the magazine:
“Today marks a new era for the Ring Magazine. Stay tuned!” The GEA chairman posted on Twitter/X on November 6.
With prior reports indicating Turki Alalshikh had already been in the midst of purchasing The Ring several months ago, it was highly speculated that Alalshikh had purchased The Ring when he announced the magazine would enter into a new period.
This acquisition has now been revealed by Alalshikh himself who detailed the exact process and reasoning that went into him buying the boxing magazine.
“Earlier this week, I finalized a deal to acquire 100% of The Ring Magazine, and I want to make a few things clear, the print version of the magazine will return immediately after a two year hiatus, and it will be available in the US and UK markets,” Alalshikh posted yesterday.
“The magazine will be fully independent, with brilliant writers and focusing on every aspect in the sport of boxing. We will restore the legacy of The Ring Rankings to its old mechanism with a fully independent panel that lives up to the Ring Magazine’s golden era.
“We will continue to raise the prestige of The Ring Titles, and plans are already underway to have a yearly extravagant awards ceremony to celebrate the very best in the boxing industry. In the coming weeks, we intend to debut a brand new state of the art website and mobile app.
“We are already in development for a line of Ring Magazine merchandise. The Ring Magazine will be a fully independent company without any involvement from Riyadh Season. In the end, lets get the Bible of Boxing to heights that it has never seen in the past.“
According to Turki Alalshikh, The Ring will continue its tradition of printing magazines after a hiatus of two years. These magazines will be distributed in both the US and the UK and is part of a large concerted effort to raise The Ring’s popularity and make it one of the most relevant boxing magazines.
Digitally too, The Ring will be undergoing changes with the magazine’s main website already in the process of changing, and a mobile app to be developed alongside the updating of the website. This process is expected to be completed in the upcoming weeks.
Moreover, Alalshikh claimed The Ring will continue to operate independently without any direct involvement from Riyadh Season, and the importance of The Ring’s lineal titles will also be further developed as an independent panel will be formed to help further the prestige of the titles. This includes the addition of an “extravagant awards ceremony”, designed to boost The Ring’s profile in the boxing world.
A notable takeaway from Alalshikh’s announcement is his assertion that he had purchased “100% of The Ring Magazine“, confirming that Golden Boy Promotions―who acquired The Ring in 2007―is no longer the owner. Golden Boy is currently still owned by American boxing legend and infamous promoter Oscar De La Hoya.
With Alalshikh having been rumored to be involved in the creation of a boxing league or tournament, and him having introduced a special undisputed title that would be granted to Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KO’s) following his victory over Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KO’s) this past May, it is possible The Ring’s titles might be adapted or include this aspect of Alalshikh’s undisputed titles.
Despite the upcoming changes to The Ring, Alalshikh’s proclamations of the magazine being independent should be taken with a grain of salt given his acquisition of The Ring and the changes he is planning to implement directly contradict this claim.
Behind the scenes, Turki Alalshikh has also been very hands-on when it comes to the boxing industry with the multitude of Riyadh Season shows attributed to his direct and frequent involvement in boxing.
A BoxingScene article released in September further implies Alalshikh is far from inactive in the background, with reports already linking him to record-keeping website BoxRec around the same period he was reportedly seeking to buy The Ring Boxing Magazine.
