Four-time super-middleweight champion Carl Froch has delivered a damning verdict on the newfound home of boxing in Saudi Arabia, following on from the weekend’s Queensberry versus Matchroom card that took place in Riyadh.
Turki Al-Alshikh has quickly emerged as the most influential figure in the sport as he continues to stage the biggest events possible and begins to branch out to shows around the world. However, for now, each of Al-Alshikh’s cards have taken place in Saudi Arabia, as he seeks to promote his country through the medium of boxing.
Within the last nine months, Saudi Arabia has twice brought each of Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury to the Kingdom, with the latter being involved in the most historic heavyweight contest of the century when he was trumped by Oleksandr Usyk last month.
As a result, the widespread opinion is that Al-Alshikh’s involvement is a huge positive for the sport, as the best fighters on the planet finally fight one another, particularly in the heavyweight division and the money and power that the catalyst investor has will ensure that this theme is continued for years to come, with a number of undisputed title bouts on the horizon.
Although, on his YouTube channel, Froch offered a differing opinion on the matter, explaining how the shows in Saudi Arabia fail to captivate the fans in the same way that major events do on British shores, labelling the atmosphere at recent events in the Middle East as ‘f***ing shocking’.
“I don’t care what anybody says, people come back and forth and people are stroking egos, agreeing with people when they say that the atmosphere [in Saudi Arabia] is good, that the atmosphere is okay. The atmosphere tonight in Saudi Arabia was f***ing shocking.
“That’s all that there is to say about it. Nobody was interested and there was some good fights on there tonight, some good heavyweight fights, Nick Ball became world champion, Hamzah Sheeraz put the performance in, it was a good show.
“People are sitting at ringside on their phones, they are not animated so hopefully that has closed the argument as to whether or not there is an atmosphere in Saudi Arabia. I don’t want to keep banging on about it but don’t tell me that the atmosphere is like it is in Britain, like it is at the O2 Arena, the Nottingham Arena, Wembley Stadium.
“You can’t beat the British crowd, the British fans, the hardcore, salt of the earth British boxing fans that get behind the fighters, the passion [that they have got].”
Al-Alshikh does not want to gatekeep all of the sport’s top talent purely for Saudi Arabia and may get on Froch’s good side once Madrimov-Crawford has taken place in the United States and Joshua-Dubois has been confirmed for Wembley Stadium in September – with a press conference for the all-British heavyweight affair set to take place imminently in London.
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