Turki Alalshikh, one of boxing’s most influential figures, does not intend to give up on boxing despite the corruption plaguing the sport. Thus far, Alalshikh has delivered some impressive cards, fight primarily by managing to make different promotions work together which culminated in several boxing events staged in Saudi Arabia becoming successful as more and significant competitive fights occurred. With Alalshikh having established his country’s reputation in producing stellar fights, the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) chairman is now looking to expand beyond the borders of Saudi Arabia; and not only work towards fixing the issues within the sport, but introducing new concepts that can aid boxing in rising as a legitimate and popular athletic sport.
Turki Alalshikh’s strategy to uplift boxing concerned not merely banding various promotions together and funding boxing events through his government department of the GEA and state-funded Riyadh Season, but promotion also played a vital role in grabbing the attention of the public; thereby drawing more customers. The further diligence by Alalshikh―and the promoters he worked with―to ensure more competitive fights were arranged also helped greatly; resulting in Saudi Arabia being established as the destination for fighters to get well-compensated if they were willing to step into the ring against equal or stronger competition.
With the increase in interest and competitiveness in the sport―encapsulated by title fights that were occurring more rapidly, Turki Alalshikh now appears comfortable in planning towards an even grander future as he admitted to during an interview with ESPN’s Mike Coppinger.
“Boxing is broken, but I think we don’t need to get everything back together,” Alalshikh told Coppinger. “We need to improve it with something else, we have a strategic vision where we have identified untapped opportunities and are committed to market improvement.“
This “strategic vision” boils down to Turki Alalshikh attempting to connect the results of certain fight cards to other cards, as he would go on to explain.
“Now my strategy, each card, the result of it connects with another card.” Alalshikh said.
In essence, Alalshikh’s vision seems to pertain to a pseudo-tournament format, slightly reminiscent of the actual World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) tournaments that were held in the recent past―with the last tournament [cruiserweight tournament] ending in 2020.
Though the recent fight cards held in Saudi Arabia have not resulted in fighters from different events facing each other, there have been more “crossover” fights between competitors from different promotions; with the upcoming June 1st “5 vs.5 Matchroom-Queensberry” and August 3rd Madrimov-Crawford cards the most vivid example of increased partnership between the different promotional outfits that exist.
This paves the way for a potential tournament format that will maximize competitiveness in the sport; a concept that is already being explored through the heavyweight division with Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KO’s) being tipped to face the winner of Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KO’s) and Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KO’s)―who will fight on June 1st; while the potential winner of that bout may face the winner [and future undisputed heavyweight champion] of Usyk-Fury, set to be determined next week on May 18th.
As of now, arranging entertaining and competitive fights appears to be the GEA chairman’s current goal, with Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s) and Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO’s) the latest blockbuster bout that Alalshikh is interested in making.
“I’m working to deliver Canelo, but it will be big fight for Crawford,” Alalshikh said. “I’ll discuss with him the names.“
Complicating a potential Canelo-Crawford bout would be Alvarez’ insistence on not fighting Crawford due to being him being deemed “too small”. but extra financial incentive might presumably be enough for the 168 lbs undisputed champion to enter the ring against Crawford. Canelo Alvarez is coming off a May 4th win over fellow Mexican Jaime Munguia (43-1, 34 KO’s), and is currently considered a free agent; which can increase the likelihood of him fighting Crawford who is also a free agent.
Terence Crawford has a fight lined up for August 3rd against WBA super welterweight champion Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KO’s) from Uzbekistan, putting him in the potential position to fight Alvarez if he comes out on top―despite David Benavidez’ (28-0, 24 KO’s) WBC mandatory position dictating he should be up next to face Alvarez. Benavidez himself will be fighting approximately a month from now on June 15th against Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KO’s) at light-heavyweight on the Davis-Martin undercard.
