In this week’s mailbag, we tackle the idea of a boxing league led by Turki Alalshikh and his Riyadh Season; the wet fart that is the idea of a rematch between Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Karen Chukhadzhian; a potential fight between Naoya Inoue and John Riel Casimero; and the best boxers of the past two decades who never won major world titles.
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THE TIME IS NOW FOR SAUDI-LED BOXING LEAGUE
Somebody influential, like a Bob Arum (Top Rank) or Garry Jonas (ProBox TV) or whoever, needs to talk to Turki Alalshikh before he leaves about forming a new boxing league with all the boxing promotions, big and small, united under one roof.
If there ever was a time for boxing to finally have one organized boxing commission (with Turki providing the funding), this is it. Window of opportunity is closing fast.
-HandsofIron
response: As much as I appreciate this sentiment – and believe even the improbable is worth trying for the payoff you describe – I’ll borrow a phrase from the kids (which may already be a decade too old): This ain’t it.
And by “this,” I mean Alalshikh. Yes, the money from Saudi Arabia’s top sports power broker spends quite nicely. But at what existential cost? Even if you take no issue with Turki’s to some very shady stuff – and, by the way, you should take issue with it – there is the small matter of turning over the whole shebang to a man who has a history of and who, frankly, seems to have a weak grasp of boxing.
Neither Arum nor Jonas (who, in full disclosure, owns BoxingScene), is likely to give up his hard-earned position of power, even for mountains of oil money. Ditto for Eddie Hearn, Oscar De La Hoya, Al Haymon and Frank Warren. Would enough fighters, lured by a quick cash grab, defect to a Turki-run league to consolidate the necessary boxing talent to make it work? Maybe. We’ve seen it in LIV Golf. But, honestly, how is that working out for golf so far? And all boxers have to do is look to their MMA brethren to see how all but the 1% are treated in a non-unionized, monopoly-style league run by a malignant narcissist.
I’m not saying that thoughtfully gathering a plurality of top fighters under one tent can’t or shouldn’t be done. Boxing desperately needs guidance from a set of stronger organizing principles and a philosophy that puts fighters and fans first. But too much about Alalshikh’s past – and even his current behavior – suggests he isn’t the guy to bring them to the sport.
NAOYA INOUE SHOULD FACE JOHN RIEL CASIMERO
Casimero vs. Inoue outside of Japan is the fight fans want to happen
-Komandante
response: The junior featherweight division right now is a prime example that a fighter can be deservingly undisputed while still having work to do to truly clean out the weight class.
Inoue arrived at 122 and promptly took out Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales to win all four major world titles, then he defeated a top challenger in Luis Nery. Earlier this month, we saw Inoue win a stay-busy fight against TJ Doheny. Inoue is expected to return before the end of the year.
Three of the contenders who remain? Murodjon Akhmadaliev (a former unified titleholder who lost his belts to Tapales via split decision), Casimero and Sam Goodman.
Casimero has a fight scheduled for this October, so it’s unlikely he’ll face Inoue next. While Casimero hasn’t done much of note at junior featherweight since arriving in 2022, he’s still been on a pretty good run since his surprising defeat to Jonas Sultan in 2017. Casimero held the WBO title at bantamweight at the same time that Inoue was blasting through the other titleholders at 118. Alas, Casimero and was later stripped of the WBO belt. That led to Inoue facing Butler for the undisputed bantamweight championship.
While I too would like to see Inoue vs. Casimero, I disagree with you that it must take place outside of Japan. Yes, Bob Arum has said that Inoue will fight in the United States again, as Inoue has done three times before. But I don’t see a problem with Inoue otherwise performing in his home country, where he is a huge, huge star. Fighting in Japan is the most lucrative location not only for him, but for his opponents. There’s a reason Fulton willingly chose to travel overseas to defend his own titles against Inoue.