Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov, the next step in Türkiye Alalshikh’s plan to bring boxing into the modern era

Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and the overseer of Saudi Arabia’s aggressive financial investment in boxing, is preparing for his first boxing match on American soil on Saturday, but is being bombarded with questions from those in the business at every turn.

Is Alalshikh, and by extension the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, good or bad for the future of boxing? Isn’t this just a waste of the sport? And, what exactly is the Riyadh Season?

In this case the answers are not as simple as the questions appear.

“First of all, I am a fan of boxing and people in our country love boxing,” Alalshikh told The MMA Hour in May. “It was the No. 1 sport in the world in the 70s and 80s, but now, in our study, it is ranked 14th. Boxing has faced a lot of problems in the last 20 years.

“Who has been running boxing for the last 15-20 years? We think people from the 70s and 60s are running the business, but we are a new generation and want to think differently. We think we have a chance to create a different format for boxing that people will be happy with.”

One could be forgiven for being skeptical that a single, well-funded entity is going to emerge like boxing’s Robin Hood to unite foes and aggressively solve a vast number of problems. With a low barrier to entry like any other professional sport, boxing has seen countless others try out parts of Alashikh’s sweeping plan, only to change tack when the cash runs out or short-term greed presents an opportunity.

The difference for Saudi Arabia in this case is that we are talking about an endless supply of resources, as evidenced by the many major pay-per-view events hosted by Alashikh in recent years, often held to promote the Riyadh Season, the kingdom’s annual three-month cultural event to end the calendar year. All of this has been part of the government’s aggressive “Saudi Vision 2030” program that aims to reduce the country’s financial dependence on oil by increasing its diversification socially and culturally.

The other big difference has been Alashkieh’s recent track record, in which he has repeatedly produced dream fight cards connecting opposite ends of boxing’s political divide, while forcing rival networks to team up for better distribution. Alashkieh has generously raised the purses to career highs for each boxer, while spending huge sums on creative promotion, including Hollywood-level movie trailers, to promote the main events.

For anyone connected to boxing to think that Alashikh’s move to Saudi Arabia might lead to him helping make the city of Riyadh the new Las Vegas is also not part of his plan. That’s why Saturday’s card at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, with former undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford heading up one of the deepest PPV events in U.S. boxing history, is so significant as the start of Alashikh’s hopes to showcase the sport around the world, from Tokyo to Berlin and many points in between.

“We don’t want to replace London or any other city.” [Las] Vegas or something but we want to put our city on the map and I think that’s our right,” Alashikh told talkSPORT Boxing in May. “Nobody is putting on great cards like us at the moment.

“Sometimes it troubles me when people talk about money washing or game washing or why [fights] Is it necessary to stay in Riyadh? It’s our right. We are paying a good price for the tickets at the stadium.”

For the record, Alashikh is not attempting to act as a promoter, manager or representative of any single broadcasting organization. What he has done, however, is attack the sport and expand his influence from the inside out, including partnering financially with several of boxing’s top promotions through sponsorship agreements and advertising (which is how Alashikh paid the UFC to sponsor his experimental November PPV at The Sphere in Las Vegas).

“My friends, I am not a promoter, but my door is open to everyone,” Alashikh told MMA Hour. “That is a clear and direct message. I don’t work with anyone exclusively. I am open and everyone can make a deal with us for the Riyadh season. If it is the right deal, we can discuss and do it. It is not our interest to be a promoter. We know their job and we know our job. If they give what we want, they can work with us. Anyone.”

According to research conducted by Alalshikh and his team, he believes 98% of boxing fans are unhappy with the state of the sport due to greed and disorganization over the last two decades. However, it is easier to exert influence on the sport when large amounts of money are exchanging hands, which Alalshikh – a self-proclaimed boxing superfan – has used to become the de facto matchmaker for most of the cards he financially supports.

The good news for boxing fans is that Alalshikh has excellent taste and has kept his focus primarily on putting on fights that fans could only dream about before. He has done his best to treat boxers like royalty at every turn, which is why fears of a new boxing monopoly headed by Alalshikh are not viewed with the same reservations as in MMA, where the UFC controls nearly every aspect of elite MMA, including an unwillingness to raise fighters’ salaries despite the promotion’s year-on-year growth.

Alashikh certainly has his favorite boxers and has never shied away from revealing who he would like to play matchmaker with. But his recent track record of Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury, Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol and Alashikh’s latest obsession, Canelo Alvarez-Crawford, largely speak for themselves, even if there are numerous obstacles threatening the viability of each of them.

,[Alalshikh] “He’s bringing the excitement back to boxing, the way it should be,” Crawford told All The Smoke Fight last week. “All the promoters should try to work together instead of trying to compete with each other. The fans want to see all these guys fight and I think what he’s doing is mixing up the sport.

“I like it and I think it will work out because one promotional company has lost all control. Now, everybody is in the same basket. You can’t say, ‘Oh, he’s across the street.’ Or, ‘He’s with the wrong promoter.’ If the money is right, you have to fight him.”

Last week, Alalshikh signed new deals with top promoters Top Rank and Golden Boy. This week, he will headline his debut US card with top fighters from Premier Boxing Champions, whom he has never worked with before.

Alalshikh is not only reducing the power and influence of boxing promoters, he is making their job easier by putting a lot of resources into creatively promoting each contest.

“You have to understand they have the money to spend,” Crawford said. “They have the money to say what they want, how they want it and how they present it. Turkey is not only for the fighters, but it’s also for the fans who want to see the fighters. Money is nothing to them. They have the money. They’re doing this for all of you, the people who want to see the fighters and see the lifestyle and background of the fighters. He’s shaking up the sport.”

Though ticket sales were initially slow for Saturday’s first U.S. show, Alalshikh has pulled out all the stops, including signing rapper Eminem as a performer, hosting public workouts (with free undercard bouts) on the Santa Monica pier and even staging a parade in Los Angeles that will see main card fighters waving from the back of convertibles.

“Tell me who can make the cards we’re making? [where] Each of the five or six fights can be the main event?” said Alashikh. “Who can do this with advertising and present it the way we are doing it. Sometimes, we lose more because of the ads than the fights. We are also doing things the old fashioned way for the first time. We have brochures, flyers, posters that are put up on the street and everywhere, including railway stations, taxis and restaurants.”

The only logical next question is what Alalshikh will do with all the power and influence he and his country have paid such big bucks to acquire. Reports from multiple outlets in recent months have pointed to a super league of top promoters, while others have speculated that Alalshikh, who has not commented publicly, will host a tournament involving the sport’s top divisions.

“In boxing, we are planning a big project that will probably come to light at the end of 2025,” Alalshikh told MMA Hour. “But until then, we will still support very big cards. Now, in the last eight months, I have a direct relationship with almost 98% of the fighters. My idea is to make big cards to show it to the world soon. I hope that no one, from promoters to belts, will stand in our way of doing this kind of thing. [owned by the four major sanctioning bodies]Because, in the end, if we want to, we will do it. And we will succeed.”

When it comes to power brokers in the sport of boxing, it seems you are either with Alalshikh or against him. Whether or not this will be a good outcome for everyone remains to be seen, as most of Alalshikh’s plans for inclusion come at the cost of sole control of an organization that is still establishing trust within the sport and which he is aggressively attempting to reshape.

But one thing Alalshikh has focused on most is making sure that two elements long overlooked in major boxing in recent decades — fighters and fans — get served to the level they deserve.

“We can’t get everybody to say that [what we are doing] “That’s right,” Alashkieh told talkSPORT Boxing. “Even in religion, some people don’t believe in God. We understand that, but we also ask all people to be honest with what you see and tell the truth. That’s what I want. I invite everyone at Boxing News to be part of this because this is our sport.”