Boxing promoter Michael Reyes believes Saudi Arabian-backed powerbroker Turki Alalshikh’s influence on boxing is starting to reach the club scene in American boxing.
Reyes Boxing Inc. heads to the DoubleTree by Hilton in Manchester, New Hampshire, this Saturday, just one week after the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh hosted yet another blockbuster card headlined by Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.
“Saudi [Arabia] is definitely affecting the way this sport is running,” Reyes told FightsATW. “Jake Paul did the same. There is always a new guy who will affect the way this sport is run. PBC [Premier Boxing Champions] did the same thing, and Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy did, too. If they are going to come along and put money in these fighter’s pockets and put them on the biggest shows, they are going to do this and that.
“You are just going to do the best you can do, and that will be that [with regard to club show promoters]. Saudi has deep pockets. How long is it going to last? I don’t know, as long as Showtime lasted? As long as HBO lasted? Eventually, someone will say no! No, we are not just going to keep throwing money away, right? It just doesn’t make sense. It has to make business sense.”
Reyes Boxing Inc. Hosts Down & Dirty XII On Saturday Night
Puerto Rican cruiserweight Paul Bamba (16-3, 15 KOs) collides with Colombia’s Francisco Cordero (44-20, 33 KOs), and Canadian super lightweight Thomas Blumenfeld (5-0, 4 KOs) takes on Nicaragua’s Lester Medrano (16-18, 9 KOs) in the card named Down and Dirty XII.
In between the star-studded events in Saudi and Reyes’ eight-fight strong card from New Hampshire lay the rest of boxing’s tapestry.
“The top of the top is doing better than they ever have,” Reyes explained. “That is allowing for the mid-level guys that were being chewed up by these larger promotions to come back down to where they would have ended up anyway—a good club-level fighter who was ready to step in and be an opponent. There is still some TV out there. Amazon Prime is doing its first free deal with Tim Tszyu and a bunch of guys in that Orlando area. We will see how it goes. I’ve sat and watched these DAZN shows, and they look average. They will present this 4-0 vs. this other 4-0, but it is a fake 4-0, so they are still killing the guy. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Meanwhile, on the club-level shows, you have a 4-16 [fighter], but the guy is winning rounds in a split decision.
“I think we will see some guys come back to the club-level circuit and move around, depending on where they are at and how big their name really is. The problem is that guys like me need to put as%es in seats. The idea of those guys doesn’t put as%es in seats. Nobody gives a f$ck and nobody gave a f$ck when they were on Showtime. The guys that are jumping on those names, the Garry Jonas’ [ProBox], the [Lou] DiBella’s, what they are really hoping is that their guy is going to get a chance to fight on a Saudi card.
“Because they signed him to some contract and put him on a card, they hope they will get 200, 300, 400, or 500 thousand dollars. Are they? Who knows? They might not. They are taking the risk of spending 30 to 40 grand to do that. In my experience, right now, the money isn’t what everyone thinks it is. It doesn’t matter who is signing the check. It doesn’t matter if it is Saudi, I don’t care if it is Eddie Hearn, I don’t care if it is Oscar De La Hoya. They call it as the rest of us do – how cheap can I get a fight for? At the end of the day, everyone’s money is made the same way.”
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