Turki Alalshikh reveals which type of fighters he wants for his Riyadh Season cards

Senior boxing figure Turki Alalshikh has declared that the Riyadh Season cards he overlooks in Saudi Arabia will only feature ‘action’ fighters.

In a message posted to X/Twitter, Alalshikh said that he no longer wanted to defensive, movement-orientated boxing. Instead, he implied that he and the other organisers would orientate their shows towards fighters that provide excitement to fans.

Alalshikh wrote: “From this point on, I don’t want to see any more Tom and Jerry-type boxing matches where one fighter is running around the ring and the other is chasing him. We can longer support these kind of fights with Riyadh Season and The Ring. We want to support fighters who leave it all in the ring and fight with heart and pride!”

It was debated widely in the response that Alalshikh was referring to recent fights involving Devin Haney, Shakur Stevenson, and William Scull. All three fighters have fought recently on Alalshikh cards within Saudi Arabia and the US in performances that were, to many, disappointing.

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Haney fought on 2 May at the Times Square card in New York, winning a wide decision over Jose Carlos Ramirez. Meanwhile, Stevenson beat Josh Padley in nine rounds in Riyadh in February (he is also set to fight the undefeated William Zepeda Segura next month in New York) and Scull faced Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in a disappointing Riyadh fight last month.

Despite this, Bill Haney, the father and coach of Devin Haney, has said in an interview that Alalshikh’s remarks did not apply to his son.

Haney said: “The only thing I can say is that he is not talking about Devin Haney. We just had a deal on the table for Teofimo Lopez. Quite a bit of money, a handsome ransom, for a night’s work. We had a deal on the deal. Right now, that deal is probably still on the table for Teofimo Lopez. So, I know they’re not talking about him.”

He added: “Devin will be fighting in Riyadh in October. And a good fight.”

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Haney added that Alalshikh was entitled to his opinion.

He said: “I don’t believe he’s talking about Devin.”