Saudi Arabia has been lately feasting on a buffet of big-time boxing bouts after initially testing the waters with an à la carte approach.

Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, is now the key figure responsible for shaping the sweet science in the Middle East. 

Alalshikh has opened the checkbook and major-matchup floodgates in Saudi Arabia by bringing Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou in October, the Day of Reckoning show featuring Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder in separate fights in December, and the upcoming cards featuring Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk on Feb. 17 and Joshua vs. Ngannou in March.

After fighting with critics for enabling attempts at “sports washing,” boxing promoters have seemingly now found their power punch in Saudi Arabia to strike oil, all while padding the pockets of their companies, and the fighters they represent.  

And it appears that as long as the Saudis stick around, the cross-promotional fights that were once considered rare occurrences will now be flying off the negotiations table and into the ring in a fast and furious fashion. 

“People talk about these big fights going to Saudi Arabia. Good, because we ain’t gonna get these fights without it,” Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn said this week. “It’s next-level stuff. And it’s a pleasure to be a part of it ... it’s good news for the fans that we’re seeing all these major fights.”

Hearn helped bring Saudi Arabia its first mega matchup in 2019 when Joshua regained his heavyweight titles at the time in a rematch versus Andy Ruiz Jr. In 2022, Hearn held Joshua’s rematch against Usyk in Saudi Arabia as well.

Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya invited by Alalshikh during the Fury-Ngannou card; the Hall of Fame fighter was greatly fond of his experience as a guest. 

Although De La Hoya has previously taken advantage of lucrative deals from the Middle East – Golden Boy staged Gilberto Ramirez vs. Dmitry Bivol in Abu Dhabi in 2022 – De La Hoya billed the notion of growing his stable overseas as bittersweet and said he’d be doing an injustice to the fans in the United States, where most of his fighters are based.

“Do I want the quick money in Saudi Arabia, and lose the fanbase, and lose the fans that the fighters need to progress their career?” De La Hoya openly wondered. “That’s why I have these sleepless nights all the time because I’m constantly thinking about what is the next move … Look, money is money, and it’s green. You know, if Saudi Arabia is going to offer something crazy, you have to think about it.”

Top Rank boss and Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum welcomes Alalshik’s influx of resources but is worried the infusion comes at a cost. 

“There is also a downside to it. For a lot of these events, I would prefer for it to be offered to the fans without a paywall. Wouldn't it be great if it was on free television? That would be great for the sport, but you can't have everything. At least it enables the fights to happen,” Arum told krikya360.com in an interview.

“With the Saudis backing the sport and the big fights taking place in the Kingdom, nothing is 100 percent. Everything has its compromises, in life and in business. I think we have to be pleased we're seeing these big fights no matter where they take place.” 

Just like Arum has helped set up Fury with his opportunities in Saudi Arabia as the heavyweight titlist’s co-promoter, he’s looking to do the same for his light heavyweight kingpin Artur Beterbiev should the Russian defend his titles against Callum Smith on Saturday. 

A Beterbiev vs. Bivol fight for the undisputed 175-pound title would likely follow in Saudi Arabia, a move Bivol and company have all alluded to as happening next. 

“The Saudis are interested in Beterbiev-Bivol,” said Arum. “That means they'll cut checks to each fighter that nobody else can match. So obviously, I think that fight can happen. I remember all of the back-and-forth problems [negotiating] with Fury and Usyk. Well, the Saudis came in and cut checks to both fighters, and that's the end of the story. And the checks are so big that neither fighter cares particularly what the other guy is getting. The same thing is going to happen with Bivol and Beterbiev, should [Beterbiev] be successful … There won't be any debate about the percentages because as long as the checks written for each guy are big enough, the fighters are happy.”

Top Rank stages its events across ESPN platforms, and the 92-year-old Arum knows all too well about the network wars. But with premium cable providers like HBO and Showtime as well as networks and recent PPV presenters like FOX no longer in the picture, ESPN has been partnering with the likes of DAZN to co-present PPVs. 

The Day of Reckoning show was the third boxing event by ESPN and DAZN, following the KSI vs. Tommy Fury / Logan Paul vs. Dillon Danis event in October and the Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz fight in August.

“You have to understand what the Saudis are doing,” Arum explained. “The Saudis realize that those [promoter-network] commitments are legally binding. The way they get around all of the problems is by having big fights on PPV. If the fights are on PPV, there is no argument about which platform has the fights because it turns out everyone does ... so the issue of a fighter not fighting on a platform, which may have contractual rights, it doesn't exist.” 

Arum is looking to ride the recent wave of major matchups moving forward. 

Top Rank holds three key cards for potential Gervonta Davis opponents with Shakur Stevenson, Vasiliy Lomachenko, and Teofimo Lopez Jr. 

But instead of dragged-out negotiations with Premier Boxing Champions, which has been the case for Arum and Al Haymon over the last decade, it should be a cinch if Alalshikh is involved. 

“The way [Davis fighting Stevenson, Lomachenko, and Lopez] will probably happen, where everything is happening, is the Saudis,” said Arum. [They] might decide to do the fight, after Ramadan this summer and cut the checks to the fighters. And that ends any kind of discussion of who gets what percentages.”

During the Day of Reckoning, over a dozen promoters worked together and contributed to the star-studded card. 

The money in the pot was so rich that Hearn and Frank Warren of Queensberry Boxing ended a decade-long feud and even met in person for the first time – Hearn said they’d be “idiots” if they didn’t work together. 

Warren was the lead promoter for the Day of Reckoning and has been working closely with Alalshikh to order every one of his favorite fights from the menu. 

“What counts is the fighters, and the fighters are getting life-changing money for these fights,” Warren said during the build-up for the Day of Reckoning. 

“We can’t stand in the way for whatever reasons we might. So they will take place. There will be bigger fights [in 2024] that we’ll be working on … We’ll be working in association with each other in quite a few of the events. So, I’m looking forward to it because I think this is the start of something really, really big.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.