“Money talks, and bull**** walks.”
The timeless movie Spinal Tap is a comedy for the ages, but one of its ensemble cast – record company boss Bobbi Flekman – revealed a truth that has governed the business world, and now the sporting landscape, for decades.
When money enters the conversation, dissenters seemingly lose their voice – as is the case in the sport of boxing right now.
Those who have made a career out of hurting people perhaps shouldn’t be held up as moral barometers, and so the deathly silence from boxing’s chief agitators on Saudi Arabia’s human rights record comes as no surprise.
It’s amazing how these incredibly outspoken individuals lose their tongue when such matters arise – particularly given the extraordinary sums of cash exchanging hands in the midst of Saudi’s ‘Riyadh Season’; a concept that is either revolutionising boxing or sportswashing propaganda, depending on who you listen to.
For those with a vested interest in the sport, Riyadh Season is fantastic – fight nights are earning barely quantifiable sums of money. According to reports, undisputed heavyweight battlers Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will share £100 million between them for having a dust-up in Saudi Arabia’s cultural capital.
It’s the kind of sum that would be impossible for a bout in London or Las Vegas, with the money put up by Saudi Arabian aristocrats. But supporters of the two fighters will be in short supply in the crowd – flights to Saudi from Heathrow costing around £600 a go, with the fight instead taking place in front of an audience of locals who, given the 01:00 start time locally, might otherwise prefer to be in bed, as opposed to imbibing the library-like atmosphere of a Riyadh fight night.
Fury and Usyk will be made for life financially, of course, but at what cost? Is boxing’s Riyadh Season a good thing for the sport, or is it a slippery slope towards disinterest and disengagement with its core Western audience?
What is Riyadh Season?
The Wikipedia page for Riyadh Season makes for excellent reading if you’re an employee of the Saudi Arabian tourism department.
There’s talk of increased visitor numbers to the country and even Guinness World Records for ‘most remote-operated multi-rotors/drones launching fireworks simultaneously’, which is possibly the most underwhelming boast ever committed to word.
Riyadh Season is a series of sporting and cultural events in the city, all of which have been funded by the state. The idea is to promote Saudi Arabia as a viable destination for tourists – a sort of break-out moment for a brave new world. The fact that Manahel Al-Otaibi has been jailed for eleven years by anti-terrorism forces in the country for a crime as heinous as promoting women’s rights on social media can be buried under an avalanche of meaningless exhibition football matches and concerts by Pitbull.
Saudi Arabia gains and the sportsmen (and it is mostly men given the country’s general stance on female participation in, well, anything) gain too, while traditional fans are left to ponder what’s the point of it all.
Of course, we’ve been here before. Las Vegas (1970s onwards) and Atlantic City (primarily the 1980s) have both, at their respective times, been the epicentres of boxing. Why? Because, at their economic peak, either could offer boxers riches beyond their wildest dreams – this is a sport that has long chased the cash, even if Sin City is, in its brash and colourful ways, boxing’s rightful spiritual home.
But it does feel like boxing is in some sort of post-fan satisfaction era, which has been powered by the ambition of one Turki Al Alshikh; a man with big dreams and an even bigger chequebook at his disposal.
Who is Turki Al Alshikh?
His official title is ‘royal court advisor’ to the Saudi aristocracy.
But Turki Al Alshikh’s role is much more than that. He has acted as a middle-man between the Western world and the previously closed shop of the Middle East, bringing together all of the promoters, fixers and hangers-on that make boxing cards happen.
Who do you think will remain undefeated in the #RingOfFire showdown?
Vote for your favorite champion 🥊#BigTime #RiyadhSeason— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) May 5, 2024
He’s even said to have helped heal the rift between rival promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren, although you suspect their wounds have been cured by bandages made of £50 notes, rather than any kind of connection on a human level.
It’s said that Al Alshikh is a genuine boxing fan, who like many is tired of the petty political squabbles between the sport’s governing bodies like the WBO and IBF. The fight cards put on in the country so far have essentially ignored their individual rankings, instead pitting pugilists of the highest standard possible against one another.
So important has Al Alshikh become as a powerbroker he was involved personally in talks between Fury and Usyk’s respective camps, and when the Gypsy King was forced to withdraw from their original February 2024 date with a cut eye, Al Alshikh brought the two together in a video call designed to ensure the bout went ahead as planned at a later date.
His Excellency is also making strides in developing boxing’s own Netflix smash hit – a sweet science version of golf’s Full Swing or F1’s Drive to Survive. He’s already overseen the production of Battle of the Baddest, a behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the build-up to the bout between Fury and Francis Ngannou. More are likely to follow.
Trace the epic paths of Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou as they clashed in the ultimate fight in Riyadh 🇸🇦 ‘Battle of the Baddest’ documentary on Netflix tells the tale of their epic journey to the big fight 🔥🥊
تروي قصة الفيلم الوثائقي
“Battle of the Baddest”
على
Netflix… pic.twitter.com/0edoOPWZGH— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) February 28, 2024
In addition to boxing interests, Al Alshikh is also thought to have been a chief negotiator in bringing MMA, WWE, tennis and snooker to Saudi Arabia – the latter’s World Masters of Snooker introducing a golden ball to the table, and the lure of a bonus of $500,000 for completing the ‘perfect’ 167 break.
The world will, one day, be less reliant on oil, which will hit Saudi Arabia’s economy hard. They need to diversify and have chosen tourism as the peg on which to hang their hat – characters like Al Alshikh will be vital if that endeavour is to be successful.
Making It Happen
One of the great things about money is that it can make people who were previously reluctant to do something suddenly lose their inhibitions about it.
Boxing has long had a problem getting the best fighters to meet in the ring. There’s the fear of losing unbeaten records – the legacy-tarnishing loss of invincibility – that keeps them apart, although negotiating a fight purse (with both fighters wanting to be seen as ‘the man’ with the biggest share) has also often been a sticking point in getting the best to take on the best.
So if Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the sport is to have any positive slant, it’s perhaps that the country’s pockets are so deep that they can convince the finest fighters in a weight division to slacken their ego, even temporarily, in the pursuit of the biggest bouts available in the sport.
Money has been the factor that has prevented Fury and Anthony Josua locking horns – the hope is that the Saudis will eventually be able to get the pair to go toe-to-toe, with the only sadness being that it’s a bout unlikely to take place on British soil.
Originally, it was planned for Fury vs Usyk to take place at Wembley Stadium, but those involved simply could not agree on financial terms that massaged the pair’s egos suitably – Al Alshikh is the man who has managed to pull off the seemingly impossible.
And this is an area where the Saudis have aided boxing, rather than detracting from it. Names like Day of Reckoning, Clash on the Dunes and Rage on the Red Sea might sound like Indiana Jones movie titles – Rumble in the Jungle they ain’t, but the cards they have put on have been outstanding.
Indeed, Day of Reckoning in December 2023 boasted a bill featuring six heavyweights that can all lay claim to being amongst the best ten on the planet – Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker, Daniel Dubois, Filip Hrgovic and Jarrell Miller.
There has been a gentle pivoting away from the heavyweight division, with the undisputed light-heavyweight clash between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol scheduled for Riyadh in June 2024 until the former suffered a knee injury in training.
For now, the lure of other weight divisions has evaded Saudi interest, with the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr and Jermall Charlo all choosing to fight in Las Vegas – that will surely be tested if, or when, Al Alshikh and co redirect their crosshairs.
Because, ultimately, money talks.
“We are in a sport where any fight could be your last,” so said the CEO of leading promoter Matchroom Sport, Frank Smith.
“Everything we do, is to make the best possible opportunities for the fighters. The financial element of that is a key part. Saudi have shown their intentions to stage the biggest nights in the sport. Any way we can make these big fights happen is the key.”
Fury himself has never been shy of detailing just how much he enjoys the whopping paydays on offer in the Middle East, although he has also revealed other, more curious reasons for wanting to leave British fight fans behind.
At one time or another, the Gypsy King has complained that Heathrow Airport staff won’t let him bypass security, and that the UK government has never written him a letter ‘thanking him’ for his economy-boosting efforts.
But it seems he’s willing to go the extra mile for the Saudis, which could ultimately mean we finally get to see him take on Anthony Joshua. And they’ll only have to travel 4,000 miles from home for the privilege.
Is Saudi Arabia Killing Boxing?
Out of sight, out of mind?
None of boxing’s kingmakers seem to care about the impact that shifting the sport to Saudi will have on its popularity in its traditional host countries – why would they, when they’re swimming in pools of money a la Scrooge McDuck?
But there’s a chance that with fight fans shorn of the ability to watch their favourite fighters in the flesh – unless they’re willing to shell out £1,000+ for a couple of nights in the Middle East, their popularity will wane dramatically.
So while ticket sales cannot be used as an accurate marker of boxing’s popularity in Saudi Arabia, global PPV buys can be used as a guide – has the move to the Middle East diluted fan interest in some of the sport’s biggest stars?
The data, it has to be said, isn’t always that reliable when it comes to boxing PPV buys, with official and unofficial figures that can be streets apart.
But we can just about piece together a look at Tyson Fury’s most recent PPV sales, starting with his second bout against Deontay Wilder through to his headline-grabbing contest with MMA star Ngannou.
Fury’s PPV numbers would make for a moderately entertaining rollercoaster ride, with his popularity evidently waning since his second bout with Wilder back in February 2020.
Some of that is due to his choice of opponents – Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora are certainly not the types of fighter that have TV viewers reaching for their remote control to buy in at £30 or more.
But one of the weakest box office performances of Fury’s career came with his bout in Saudi Arabia against Ngannou – despite Al Alshikh claiming it would be ‘one of the biggest pay-per-views ever.’ Indeed, one source claimed that in the United States televised buys were as low as 10,000.
Anthony Joshua has been another fighter keen to cash in on the Saudi dollar. But has interest in his career waned in direct correlation?
Although Joshua’s PPV interest hasn’t been a complete downward slope, we can still surmise that his popularity has waned as far as a TV audience is concerned.
However, the Saudi effect is not necessarily to blame. His most watched bout in recent times was his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk – held in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
That’s perhaps proof that it’s the quality of opponent that ultimately drives PPV buys – low-grade rivals such as Franklin and Helenius, who Joshua fought in London, were of relatively little interest to punters.
And another lesson has been learned: there’s no great appetite to see MMA stars cross-over into boxing. The bouts of Fury and Joshua against Ngannou were car crashes, as far as PPV numbers are concerned – despite the strong performance that the Cameroon fighter put in against Fury.
The figures are proof positive that if you want to put bums on seats, fighting in the United States is still the way to go for the most part. Here’s the five biggest-selling bouts of 2023:
The numbers we quoted for Fury and Joshua are complete global PPV buys – the figures in the graphic above are in the United States alone.
So what conclusions can be sought? Certainly fighting in Saudi Arabia can be a smart decision financially, with huge purses guaranteed – the pugilists don’t need PPV sales to top up their earnings.
But those box office sales confirm that it’s only headline-making fights that do big numbers these days – as evidenced by the lack of interest when champions take on low-quality opposition with very little chance of beating them.
And there has to be an inference made that the popularity of Fury and Joshua has fallen since they started fighting in Saudi – maybe the whole ‘out of sight, out of mind’ theory has legs.
The other question to ask is, ‘do the fighters really care’? Their chosen profession is short-lived and incredibly dangerous, so you can hardly blame them for squirreling away as much money as possible.
But, as ever in these situations, it’s the humble fan that loses out on the opportunity to watch their heroes in action in person – they’re left with the choice between an expensive PPV buy or swerving it altogether.
As a legacy for British boxing, that is a worrying development.