Both the May 2nd and May 3rd shows, sponsored by the The Ring and Riyadh Season respectively, headed by Turki Alalshikh prominently failed to live up to expectations as several bouts on both cards were underwhelming. With there being a significant monetary backing behind the production of Alalshikh’s shows and the earnings of participating fighters, doubts have now arrived as to the validity of the investment made by Alalshikh into the sport following the failure of the aforementioned cards.
The Garcia-Romero card held on May 2nd and Alvarez-Scull undisputed card held on May 3nd were promoted and presented under different brands but directed by the same person: Turki Alalshikh who is the owner of The Ring and the head of Riyadh Season through his position as chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA).
Alalshikh’s arrival in the sport has culminated in a number of eyecatching cards backed by prominent and persistent marketing, higher salaries for fighters, and cooperation between different promotions, but this past weekend showed some chinks into Alalshikh’s involvement as both the May 2 and 3 cards had plenty of faults.
Most of the criticism stems from the records made by several of the fights, with the May 3rd Alvarez-Scull bout claiming the #1 spot for a 12-round bout with the fewest-thrown punches, while the Garcia-Romero and Haney-Ramirez bouts held on May 2nd took up 3rd and 4th place respectively.
Though there are more underlying factors at play, inactivity in the case of Romero and Garcia which is further compounded by Garcia’s performance-enhancing drug (PED) offenses, the overall theme of Riyadh Season and now The Ring shows is the high earnings fighters appear to make.
High earnings which may have contributed to the performances seen this past weekend.
In boxing, brain damage can be fatal or career-ending as has been seen in a plethora of cases, most prominently in the case of Gerald McClellan, and most recently with retired boxer Heather Hardy who retired after following the advice of medical professionals due to the damage she sustained in the sport, having suffered too many concussions during her pro boxing and MMA career to conceivably continue a career in combat sports.
Adversely for entertainment, the increasing knowledge of the dangers in boxing may have spurred this past weekend’s fighters to choose health and wealth over the brutal damage accrued by both Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn in The Ring’s debut sponsor show which featured a high-level of physical engagement.
With career-high earnings largely guaranteed by Alalshikh-led shows, the fighters that contributed to CompuBox’s history-breaking records this past weekend would have reasons not to fight to the best of their ability.
In Canelo Alvarez’ (63-2-2, 39 KO’s) case, the now-confirmed September 12th contest against pound-for-pound fighter Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s) would be incentive enough to hold back due to not wanting to suffer any unnecessary damage. Pertaining to William Scull (23-1, 9 KO’s), participating on the Riyadh Season card could have been a career-high payday for him, and perhaps be life-changing money that could justify him leaving the ring as healthy as possible rather than as an undisputed super middleweight (168 lbs) champion.
With Alvarez further having become one of the highest-earning athletes in 2024 and prior, it clarifies the position of fighters that are on both of the sides of the earning scale.
Naturally, this leads to questions as to how suitable the Riyadh Season– and The Ring-sponsored shows can truly become with motivation seemingly limited to how much damage a fighter is willing to accrue, and how much they earn. As the May 2nd and May 3rd bouts proved, being well-paid does not result in better performances, though more often than not Riyadh Season cards have produced plenty of exciting events that contradicts this notion.
What the May 2nd and May 3rd fights all seem to have in common other than the expected high earnings is that the fighters either were American or have largely competed in America, with Alvarez notably having fought in the United States for the majority of his career.
Given these facts, the poor performance by this past weekend’s cards could be attributed to a clear decline of US boxing where the amount of earnings could be attributed to performance. Though America has long been known in boxing as a prominent destination and breeding ground for great fights and fighters, that era seems to have long since passed as hinted by the absence of a prominent American heavyweight.
Ironically, the highest-grossing fight in boxing was the US-based May 2nd bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in 2015 which was heavily criticized due to the lack of action in the fight; similar to what was seen on the May 2nd and May 3rd cards.
The most prominent issue pertaining to all of this, however, might have been the lack of competition that occurred this past weekend, with the most exciting fights on the cards having been held between two fighters of relative similar ability, as the Teofimo Lopez vs. Arnold Barboza Jr. [held on May 2] and Martin Bakole vs. Efe Ajagba [held on May 3] fights have shown.
There is a case for all of the fights that broke CompuBox’s history that the competitiveness of the fights had been relatively mismatched and overblown. William Scull, despite being an IBF champion, may not have been a deserving champion given the manner in which he won the title in the first place is still considered controversial.
In regards to the match between Ryan Garcia and Rolando Romero, both fighters’ abilities have been exaggerated in the build-up to the May 2nd event as they were both getting back in the ring after roughly a year out. The fact the WBA chose to introduce the WBA “regular” welterweight (147 lbs) title for the Garcia-Romero bout further confuddled what was likely a bout not worth to the position of main event in the first place.
In Haney’s case, the factors of him being out for a year like Garcia while coming off a overturned loss also played a role in the performance that occurred, while Ramirez was simply not a good enough fighter to prevent Haney from being as timid as he displayed during their bout.
While Riyadh Season and The Ring cards benefit from the extravaganza and attention that surround it, there is plenty to say on the matchmaking that was displayed and identifies several adjustments Turki Alalshikh will need to make henceforth, starting by taking into account the factors of inactivity and the actual ability of the fighters that face each other.
