There was a period of time late in 2022 and into early 2023 when the handlers of Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury worried they would never be able to satisfy their financial demands.
Usyk-Fury was the heavyweight title unification fight boxing needed. Fury-Anthony Joshua would’ve done significantly bigger business — their all-British battle would’ve sold out London’s Wembley Stadium and perhaps been the most marketable matchup in the history of U.K. boxing — but Ukraine’s Usyk defeated England’s Joshua twice, and Fury’s WBC belt was the only one Usyk needed to become boxing’s first fully unified heavyweight champion of the four-belt era. Fury chased that same legacy-changing victory, yet both boxers wondered whether the tens of millions of dollars they wanted for facing each other would be available.
It wasn’t until Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA), headed by chairman Turki Alalshikh, infused so much money into the boxing business in 2023 that Usyk-Fury became a reality.
The GEA has such deep pockets, Usyk and Fury agreed to fight twice. They are scheduled to box again Dec. 21 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, in a 12-round rematch that caps off the country’s first full calendar year heavily involved in a niche, unstructured sport perpetually in need of financial assistance.
Usyk, 37, and Fury, 36, will each earn more than $100 million combined for their two fights, funding that would not have been available if not for the Saudis’ sudden involvement in boxing. The Middle Eastern country hosted world title fights in 2018 (Callum Smith-George Groves) and 2019 (Joshua-Andy Ruiz II), but it hadn’t invested in boxing consistently until it made Fury’s fight with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou its inaugural main event of Saudi Arabia’s persistently promoted “Riyadh Season” in October 2023.
Fury-Ngannou drew worldwide criticism because the then-unbeaten WBC champion Fury opposed a boxing novice in a 10-round, non-title bout. The novelty nevertheless delivered one of boxing’s most memorable moments of 2023 when the hard-hitting Ngannou floored Fury in the third round and nearly upset one of the most accomplished heavyweights of the 21st century.
“The Gypsy King,” who was a 20-1 favorite, survived Ngannou’s unanticipated threat, narrowly won a split decision, and secured his place in his showdown with Usyk. Fury and Usyk then met May 18 at Kingdom Arena, where Usyk defeated Fury by split decision in a very competitive bout. Fury can avenge the lone loss on his professional record seven weeks from Saturday night.
“It’s been an unbelievable year,” Frank Warren, Fury’s co-promoter, said during a news conference to promote their rematch Wednesday in London. “Last October was the first one, which was Tyson. He opened up the ‘Riyadh Season’ against Ngannou. Since then, we’ve had some brilliant nights.”
Warren noted that Saudi Arabia’s “Riyadh Season” events have featured 67 fighters, included 14 world title fights, and crowned undisputed champions in two weight classes, all within just 12 months.
Those within the business who’ve benefited financially from it have an overwhelmingly positive viewpoint of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in boxing. There are detractors — most commonly complaints of “sportswashing” by the increasingly image-conscious Saudi Arabian government — which Uncrowned will also examine below in assessing Alalshikh’s status as the most influential figure in the industry.
Five Victories
Fans finally have seen several high-profile fights
Fans far too often have waited way too long for “marinating” matchups and bouts blocked by competing promotional and/or network/streaming partnerships. Alalshikh has provided purses that have made even the most bitter business rivals, most notably Warren and fellow British promoter Eddie Hearn, work together.
In addition to Fury-Usyk, Alalshikh, commonly called “His Excellency” by business partners, secured funding for the light heavyweight title unification bout between unbeaten champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Beterbiev beat Bivol by majority decision Oct. 12 at Kingdom Arena and became the sport’s first fully unified 175-pound champion since four belts became recognized.
Their fight was so close, though, that Alalshikh acknowledged in recent days that he will make sure an immediate rematch takes place in the first half of 2025.
“They’ve certainly brought a lot of money into the sport and a lot of fights happened because of them,” Bob Arum, Beterbiev’s promoter, told Uncrowned when asked about the Saudis. “That’s all good. Have they done everything perfectly? No, but you know, pretty much I would say they’ve been a big plus in what they’ve done.”
Fighters are making more money
Usyk and Fury weren’t the only champions paid much more than seemingly market value for their historically significant fight. Beterbiev and Bivol earned approximately $10 million apiece for their championship clash, which also took place at Kingdom Arena.
Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang, a former WBO interim champ, received a compensation package that approached $3 million for his fifth-round stoppage of former WBC champ Deontay Wilder on June 1 at Kingdom Arena. Zhang’s purse for facing Wilder was more than he made for his two knockout victories over England’s Joe Joyce combined.
It has been an expensive endeavor overall, presumably one that has yet to come close to turning a profit. Alalshikh assured his promotional partners, though, that the GEA is committed to the sport in the long term, even if his proposed $2 billion boxing league doesn’t materialize.
“I don’t think we would’ve seen Fury-Usyk and I don’t think we would’ve seen Bivol-Beterbiev without the Saudis,” Hearn told Uncrowned. “I know we wouldn’t have seen cards like it. So, I think it’s been incredible, and I hope it can continue.”
It should be noted, of course, that Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao earned almost $400 million combined in May 2015 for what remains the most profitable fight in boxing history long before the Saudis disrupted the global boxing market.
Trickle-down effect on purses
With the GEA covering purses for such costly contests as Usyk-Fury, Beterbiev-Bivol, Joshua-Daniel Dubois, Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov, Joshua-Ngannou and Fury-Ngannou, more money is available within the budgets networks and streaming services provide promoters primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom.
That has helped, in some cases, promoters like Arum and Hearn to make main events and/or undercard fights for respective ESPN+ and DAZN subscribers that otherwise might not have happened.
“The Saudis and Turki Alalshikh have had an amazing, positive impact on the sport,” manager Keith Connolly, who works with heavyweight contender Filip Hrgovic, told Uncrowned. “They’re making fights that otherwise would never be made, which is helping some of the promoters and the networks make some of the second-tier fights a lot easier because Saudi Arabia is helping financially with the bigger fights.
“So, I think it’s tremendous for the entire sport of boxing. Even though it seems like the top guys are benefiting more, I don’t believe that’s true. I think there’s a trickle-down effect. I think it helps the mid-level fighters in that respect.”
Croatia’s Hrgovic lost by eighth-round technical knockout on cuts to Dubois in their fight for the IBF interim title on the Wilder-Zhang undercard June 1 at Kingdom Arena.
Promoters, networks working together more often
Boxers aligned with competing promoters and content providers too often fought inferior, in-house opponents prior to Alalshikh satisfying financial needs of competitors consistently.
The days when fighters with long-term commitments to HBO couldn’t fight opponents contracted with Showtime seem like distant memories in many cases since Saudi Arabia became the prominent provider in the sport. Beterbiev, for instance, is tied to Arum’s Top Rank Inc. and ESPN, whereas Bivol works with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and DAZN.
Wilder worked throughout his career with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, yet he, too, fought former WBO champ Joseph Parker on the Joshua-Otto Wallin undercard last Dec. 23 at Kingdom Arena and later Zhang.
“They’ve got the promoters working together, they’ve got the TV companies working together,” Warren said.
“TNT [Sport], DAZN, Sky [Sports], all working together to continue to support the greatest sport in the world. The boxing landscape is in the best shape it’s ever been in because of [Saudi Arabia’s involvement]. And we’ve got, on the 21st of December, the fight.”
Pay-per-view shows are cheaper in the U.S.
Alalshikh has repeatedly referred to his plan to lower the cost of pay-per-view events, particularly in the U.S., where cards can cost anywhere between $75 and $90.
He believes rampant piracy is the consequence of high pay-per-view prices and can be curtailed by charging less for that content. With more margin for financial error, Alalshikh can apply this price-slashing principle in ways HBO Sports and Showtime Sports weren’t willing to try with promotional partners before those two industry-leading premium cable networks stopped broadcasting boxing.
As part of the GEA’s deal with Arum’s company, Beterbiev-Bivol was offered to ESPN+ subscribers at no additional cost in the U.S. DAZN subscribers in the UK were charged £19.99 for the entire Beterbiev-Bivol card.
Several Saudi-backed pay-per-view shows have featured stacked undercards and been offered for lower price points than normal, as low as $39.99.
“I dream of a pay-per-view with a good price to make fans happy and subscribe and get them to watch it legally,” Alalshikh told TalkSport. “Usually when I see a high pay-per-view [price], a lot of people go and watch the fight illegally, and this is not healthy for boxing and the…
