SAUDI ARABIA wants to take control of boxing and consolidate all rival factions into a £4 billion UFC-like mega-corporation with an impressive three-point plan.
The kingdom’s Public Investment Fund – which already owns Newcastle United – is talking to the sport’s main promoters and sanctioning bodies, who often work fiercely against each other, about the possibility of uniting under one umbrella.
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The first negotiations are about, firstly, simplifying the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO into one boxing body and world title belt.
The second point is to force rival promoters like Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya to work hand in hand.
And the third is also the idea of reducing the 16 hard-to-follow weight categories to a much more manageable number.
There are currently 16 main weight categories, from the 10-pound 7th light flyweight to the unlimited pinnacle of the 14-pound-plus heavyweights.
The WBC and WBA even forced another split – to further muddy the waters – with a bridge weight class from 14 pounds up to 16 pounds.
At any given time there could be up to SIXTY-FOUR world champions, across all weight classes and sanctioning bodies, leaving fight fans as confused as they are angry.
Pursuing the sport is also terribly expensive and impossible in some situations.
In the UK, TNT, Sky Sports and the DAZN streaming app need to be subscribed to watch all the main fights.
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And even facing all three doesn’t guarantee you every meaningful fight live in the US and around the world.
Sport has never been more fragmented or less popular.
But Turki Alalshikh – chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority and close advisor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – is a boxing superfan who is dedicated to returning the sport to its former glory.
Alalshikh has already taken Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to the desert to compete in iconic fights.
And he’s financing an Aug. 3 show in Los Angeles — complete with an Eminem show.
Negotiations are also advanced for a spectacular spectacle at Wembley Stadium in September to continue promoting the Riyadh Season brand, with AJ set to star at the top of the bill.
And beyond that, the plan is to centralize the best of the sport in the same way that Dana White did with the UFC.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship – bought by Endeavor for around £3 billion in 2016 – is the Premier League of mixed martial arts, with all the top male and female fighters competing across its eight men’s divisions and three women’s classes.
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