Turki Alalshikh is not interested in promoting more YouTube fights in the region.

The Kingdom most famously put on the Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury fight in Saudi. The bout was a success financially, with reports that it sold over 800,000 buys. The fight was also closer than people expected on the scorecards, with Fury coming through with a split-decision win.

The Problem Child also managed to drop Fury with his jab, which was the highlight of the fight. Although that may be the case, the Kingdom is moving away from that scene. They put on Tyson Fury Vs. Francis Ngannou, a bout that was much more competitive than first thought.

Ngannou was making his boxing debut but dropped Fury and lost a narrow split decision win. Since then, the Kingdom has announced Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship, Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou and plans for Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol. That shows the focus is on trying to make the most competitive fights in the sport. 

Turki Alalshikh Reacts

“We don’t want any YouTuber fight again. I don’t talk about names. I want fighters. [And] I want fighters. This is what I support. Maybe another section in GEA will do something like this for the fans to make them happy, OK. But me? Inside my heart I want to see the fighters. I want to see the fighters," Turki Alalshikh said

This is part of Turki Alalshikh’s vision to produce the biggest heavyweight fights until 2023. The heavyweight division is seen as the most important for the sport’s growth, given its ability to attract casual fans.

The long-term plan shows that Saudi sees itself as the home of boxing for the future, putting pressure on the UK and the US to make changes to keep the sport relevant in their area.

There is a danger that grassroots boxing in those areas will die down if the opportunities to make it to the top level no longer exist. This is something aspiring boxers must consider, according to Turki Alalshikh’s following comments. 

Turki Alalshikh On The Future

“In the seventies and the beginning of the eighties, the sport that was number one in the world was boxing. “Now I am very sad. The last [search] result I have before we go inside deeper boxing was the fourteenth [rated sport worldwide].

“There are many reasons. Some of them being that there are not a lot of fighters who are charismatic and have character now. There are a lot of problems with the promoter. They don’t want to do the strongest fight because it costs a lot. Some fighters don’t want to do the strongest fight, and there are four companies and four belts,” Turki Alalshikh said 

The sport is at a crossroads, but with Saudi’s grand vision, there is hope for boxing fans to see the best fights out there. 

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