Although it was April 1, a day of tomfoolery on social media, Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and co-founder of Zuffa Boxing, shared a major update on what the rest of the year will look like for upcoming fights.
It all started with a simple tweet from veteran journalist Michael Woods, who shared the following on X: “Turki has been busy with other stuff? Losing interest in boxing? The momentum from last year has been absent.” Woods wasn’t trolling when he asked those questions. He was simply stating what everyone in the industry was thinking but might be too afraid to say publicly due to the risk of potential backlash.
Fans and industry insiders have noticed that some fight cards no longer feature as many stars as before. Alalshikh has been absent from fight week events and has attended fewer fight nights. Rumors circulated that he was battling an illness, and many believed them because he looked physically different—shaved and walking more cautiously than usual. Then there was the lawsuit Frank Warren filed against Riyadh Season for breach of contract, which likely caused Alalshikh to stay more low profile. One or a combination of these reasons led to Alalshikh remaining in the shadows until the right moment.
It looks like the time is right now as he quote-tweeted Woods and gave an update that was music to the ears of fight fans.
“Yes, I am very busy with other stuff. Thank God my country is safe and we are happy, even when we are close to war. Thank you for asking. Missile and drones coming to my country each day.
“And to prove your point that I am too busy and not interested in boxing anymore, we just did Shakur-Teo, the biggest fight in MSG history, Garcia-Barrios in Vegas, one of the biggest fights this year. Next week I will be in London for the legend Tyson Fury vs. Makhmudov at Tottenham Stadium. And we have Usyk-Rico heavyweight title fight at the Pyramids. And that’s just the first half of 2026.
“We are finalizing Canelo in Riyadh Season for September, planning to do two fights for Joshua, another for Tyson and another for Garcia in the second half. This is my schedule this year when I am busy and not interesting imagine if I not.”
The interesting part of that tweet was the fights we weren’t aware were coming up. Let’s start with “two fights for (Anthony) Joshua.” The former unified heavyweight champion took some time off after a car accident that killed two of his close friends. Then he’s spending a lot of time training with current unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, giving off Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed vibes from Rocky III. Yes, we see Joshua training, but his future was uncertain until Alalshikh mentioned doing two fights for him. One of those, I imagine, is the mega fight with Tyson Fury, as Alalshikh mentioned there was another Tyson Fury fight scheduled. Let’s see if the big UK fight finally happens.
Lastly, Ryan Garcia fighting in the second half of the year was expected, but now we know it will happen. The question is, who will he fight against? The biggest fight remains the Devin Haney rematch, but recent reports suggest Garcia has been saying he will fight Teofimo Lopez. Could that be Garcia playing hardball with Haney over negotiations, or is Lopez the opponent Alalshikh has chosen for Garcia since he will be the one paying the bill?
Regardless, this massive update from Alalshikh should keep fans satisfied for now, as the second half of the year was still uncertain until the update. Alalshikh is “back outside,” which can only mean big fights are coming.
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