Saudi boxing chief, Turki Alalshikh, has confirmed his intentions to build a boxing super league in a similar fashion to LIV Golf. The Saudi boxing boss and current chairman of the country’s General Entertainment Authority has had a major impact on the sport in recent years.
Alalshikh has hosted a number of high-profile fights and events around the world and in the Middle East as fighters reap the rewards of the Saudi millions. But a report in June suggested that Alalsheikh was interested in expanding his impact in boxing and creating a super league.
He reportedly held talks about the idea that would monopolise the sport and bring all of the promotional companies together in a deal that is estimated to be around $4billion (£3.03 billion).
During an interview with talkSPORT, the Saudi boxing boss confirmed his intentions. “We have a plan for the future to have something like a league,” Alalshikh said. “We don’t discuss about the belts until now. But in my opinion around 68 world champions is a crazy number.”
The idea would pass the problem and criticism that the four main organisations – the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO have brought. In its current guise, there are currently 17 weight classes with 68 world champions in the sport.
Many of the organizations have their own interim title holders and challengers, which often puts pressure on fights to happen that conflict with other belts or don’t hold the interest or understanding of fans.
Alalshikh’s hope is to control the sport in the way that UFC has effectively monopolised MMA. The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund has already disrupted sport by launching the LIV Golf league, which saw the wealth fund’s limitless riches tempt a number of the game’s best players to ditch the PGA Tour for the new setup.
The likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson swapped allegiances and left golf’s premier competition, a tactic the Saudis would likely use with the introduction of a boxing league.
One of the major changes that the plan would bring is the number of belts, which is an issue that fighters and experts have criticised due to the hefty sanctioning fees they have to fork out for titles. Floyd Mayweather has been one of the most vocal advocates for less belts and has continuously insisted it’s a problem that needs addressing.
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“The WBC, the WBA, the IBF and the WBO, you all have to clean this s**t up. You all have to clean this up,” he said. “This is bad for boxing. Ain’t such thing as no super champion. You guys are just taking extra money from all these fighters, getting extra money from sanctioning fees.
“And this goes for my company as well. We gotta clean this sport of boxing up. This s**t, this don’t look good. When you look on TV now, everybody’s a champion. You see all these fighters posing with a belt.”
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