Boxing Talk

27 Sep 2024 19:45:14
What's everyone's opinion on the Saudi involvement in Boxing?

28 Sep 2024 10:13:48
At the start I wasn't too keen, I thought the shows were amateurish and lacked atmosphere but over the last year or so they have been amazing. Some still might point to a lack of atmosphere but the production level and quality of the cards have been brilliant.

I do think but why the Saudis are doing this? They aren't doing this to make a profit, is it just one rich man's love of the sport? Or is there other reasons behind it? Some might point to the playing of the Saudi national anthem and say that is there reason but I'm not sure.

Looking at the positives, they have held some fabulous cards and finally the fans are getting a lot of the fights we wanted. They have brought Matchroom and Queensbury together which can only be good for the sport going forward. They have brought more good attention to the sport imo.

On the negatives, there seems to be no structure to this. It just seems it is the route that Turki Alalshikh
Wants to see. Cause I have no real idea on why the Saudis are involved I don't know how long they plan to be involved. What happens to the sport if they decide to put their doe into another sport, what happens to boxing? Also heard a lot of rumours about Turki Alalshikh having health problems, hopefully the mam is ok but he seems to be driving force behind the doe so if true how much longer will this continue?

Boxing at the moment is in a see saw position, could be up one month and down the next. Be interesting to see how this pans out.

More worrying is the Olympic situation for the LA games in 2028. I read the World boxing are taking steps towards securing the future of boxing in the games but let's hope they can convince the IOC by next year cause boxing not being an Olympic sport would be disastrous for the sport.

28 Sep 2024 20:57:43
From what I was reading, a lot of the Middle Eastern countries are trying to create an economy that isn't oil based. Dubai went for international tourism, Saudi Arabia seems to be going for global sports.

The Saudi's have quite a few different sports which they are openly trying to take over. Boxing is most definitely one of them, Pool is another and I think they are/were trying to make Saudi Arabia the big league, though I'm not sure how that is going to be honest lol.

Maybe Ed002 would have a little bit of information? I know the focus is on Football but you seem to be well versed in economics so I figured it's worth asking.

My main concern is that the current model is completely unsustainable. They are throwing loads of money at this and it's not making the same profits.

Matchroom and Queensberry have essentially become vassal promotional companies for the Rihyad Season cards and I suspect that once Joshua retires or it's clear he's no longer a big draw, Eddie will 'sell' Matchroom to Turki and likely become an ambassador to Rihyad Season or something.

Frank will likely do the same, but at a later date.

I suspect Turki's main goal is to create a UFC style system but with his own personal touch. A system where he selects the fights, controls all the finances and is lauded as a hero for 'saving Boxing'.

While I most certainly am hopeful of change in Boxing, I'm not necessarily sure Turki is the right man to take it forward.

29 Sep 2024 10:57:18
Thinking purely on boxing I think I would be OK with Turki taking over, he seems to listen to what the fans want and creates it.
Look at the show last week, 6 bouts quick turn around between bouts and main event starting before 10pm. Compare that to a Top rank show where we get 10 fights, 2 episodes of 24/7 between each fight and whole show lasts 8 hours.
We all know the sanctioning bodies r a joke anyway so I'd be OK with Turki taking over if the last year is to go by.

My worry is when Turki or Saudi have had enough what happens to the sport after? Also worrying is stories of journalists being blacklisted from events if they bad mouth Turki or the show.

05 Oct 2024 05:21:17
Yeah I'm not sure Turki will get bored as I think there his involvement is some how tied to their nations economic policy, so I imagine as long as it's successful he (and whoever succeeds him eventually) will stick around long term.

That's under the assumption I'm on the right lines with my theory.

22 Sep 2024 02:18:15
big congratulations to dubois, dominant display.


i honestly think now, all that's left for AJ now is a mega money prize fight, and that's most likely to be fury, ( if he loses to usyk again)
or even wilder, which I have no interest in whatsoever


Turki Alalshikh looked like he had the hump post fight, didn't look happy at all.

23 Sep 2024 22:24:04
Honestly Turki is slowly finding out the hard way that 'plans' in Boxing rarely ever come to full fruition. He really should have known this as his first Saudi show was Ruiz vs Joshua II, a fight where Joshua had suffered a shock defeat in the first outing.

I like his ambition but he's a brainlet when it comes to understanding how the sport works.

21 Sep 2024 22:29:14
Damn son, Dubois messed him up.

18 Sep 2024 20:04:41
anyone giving dubois more than a punchers chance against AJ on sat night?
all people i've asked says he has no chance at all.


i would like to see a dubois win, but his clumsiness will be his downfall in the fight.

18 Sep 2024 22:28:51
I'm personally 60-40 in favour of AJ winning.

Dubois has shown that he has far superior stamina to AJ and I think it's fair to say his durability is probably better than AJ's too (going off Dubois' last two fights), so if he can withstand AJ's power and draw him into a brawl, I think Dubois stands a very good chance.

However, I suspect AJ will do everything he can to box like he did against Ruiz (2) and Parker. So I am expecting a largely boring fight, that possibly leads to an AJ stoppage.

I will say that as we have got closer to the fight, my opinion hasn't changed I still think AJ will win but I am less convinced of it than I was in the previous thread.

19 Sep 2024 17:39:17
I would give Dubois more of a punchers chance. I am favouring Aj to win but that's all down to the amount of right hands Dubois took v Hrgovic but surely they have corrected that.

I think Dubois has a better chin, better work rate although would say aj has the better ring IQ and probably more power.

Think the first few rounds will be a battle of the jab with neither taking much risk until the later rounds.

21 Sep 2024 13:54:03
Although I said above I think the first few rounds tonight will be a battle of the jab, I don't think that should be Dubois' game plan. I think if it's a battle of the jab and he stays mid to long range, joshua will go up and down stairs with the jab then start to land the right.

Think Dubois should put the pressure on him from the start, slipping sliding and throwing hooks. Brings the danger of Joshua's uppercut into play but I see that as Dubois' best chance of winning and hope he employs these tactics as it will lead to an exciting bout.

04 Aug 2024 20:27:32
bakole looked good last night, a lot of people I know thought anderson would win on points.
i think he could do some damage to the top heavyweights.


as for the miller fight, did I miss something?
no way was that a draw, miller won that in mu opinion

05 Aug 2024 07:33:18
Bakole is? a danger man. Wouldn't mind seeing him v Zhang.

05 Aug 2024 14:35:58
Yeah I picked Anderson to win on points by moving and keeping Bakole on the end of a jab. I thought he would have learned from the stupidity he showed in the Martin fight.

Given the rumours of Bakole's sparring sessions, it makes me wonder why anyone stands in front of him like that.

Miller can fall in to a black hole, I'll never give him any credit for anything after he stuck several pharmacies up his rear end.

05 Aug 2024 18:19:39
Tbh I thought Bakole was a free one. Thought Anderson has been a disaster waiting to happen. He's on tape saying he doesn't like boxing and imo took too many shots against hand picks.

06 Aug 2024 15:54:00
Yeah I remember watching him vs Martin and being unimpressed, but I figured he's in his early 20s and will naturally improve.

I know he's said some stuff about being disinterested in Boxing, but I figured that was just an angle for him, like how Fury does it.

Was a fun fight though, Bakole needs to work on his defense if he's going to be a genuine contender though. Accurate big punchers like Joshua would be a nightmare for him with that defense.