Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, made a significant stop by Uncrowned and DAZN's "Ariel x Ade" show on Tuesday. This event brought forth a plethora of news regarding his boxing endeavors and various collaborations in the boxing and MMA world.

Unveiling Turki Alalshikh's Boxing Odyssey

Surprise Appearance and 2025 Boxing Plans

Turki Alalshikh joined Uncrowned and DAZN's "Ariel x Ade Show" unexpectedly on Tuesday. He shared detailed insights about the Feb. 22 Riyadh Season card, which has been hailed as one of boxing's best in years. The rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol takes center stage, with Daniel Dubois defending his IBF heavyweight title against Joseph Parker in the co-feature. However, the expected inclusion of Jaron "Boots" Ennis next to Vergil Ortiz Jr. on the poster didn't materialize.Alalshikh explained that Ennis gave his word but later changed his mind due to his focus on unifying the belts at welterweight. He said, "First of all, [Ennis] gave us his word. And in the end, he changed his mind [about] what I can do for him. I cannot force him." IBF welterweight champion Ennis turned down the Ortiz bout as he didn't want to immediately move up to super welterweight.

Ortiz's Future and Other Matchmaking

After Ortiz's majority decision win over Serhii Bohachuk in August, Alalshikh promised to put the WBC interim super welterweight champion on a Riyadh Season card. He initially hoped to have Ortiz on the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2 undercard, but Ortiz wasn't ready to fight on Dec. 21. When Ennis was ruled out, Alalshikh tried to match Ortiz with unified champion Sebastian Fundora, but PBC representatives rejected the proposal as Fundora is expected to defend his titles against Errol Spence Jr.Former two-division undisputed king Terence Crawford was also ruled out. Alalshikh said, "I try, and I push to do this fight. But Crawford now is not ready and not training, and he has a small health issue, [he’s a] little injured. He prefers to fight with us after May. [Fighting in] May and [then once again] after May." With Ennis, Fundora, and Spence unavailable, Israil Madrimov was offered the fight with Ortiz. Madrimov is already scheduled to face Bohachuk on the Usyk vs. Fury 2 undercard on Dec. 21, and this fight will proceed as planned.Ortiz vs. Madrimov is part of a seven-fight card on Feb. 22, but it almost became a nine-fight card until Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren persuaded the Saudi Arabian minister to shorten the event. Alalshikh joked, "Eddie and Frank pushed me and called me 100 times. They said, 'What is this card? Do you want it [to last for] 16 hours?' I said, 'OK, cancel the last two fights. We delay it to March.'"

Canelo and Crawford's Potential Clash

Alalshikh said he is still looking to pit Crawford against boxing's biggest star, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. He said, "I don't know anyone now from the Canelo team, and I don't have any connection. But if he’s hearing me, we are ready to discuss. But I want to discuss [with] him directly, without anyone in the middle." Alalshikh and Alvarez had a public dispute in August after Alvarez announced his Sept. 14 match with Edgar Berlanga, which clashed with a Riyadh Season sponsored UFC event. Despite that, Alalshikh reiterated his openness to doing business with Canelo in 2025 for a Crawford clash.

Riyadh Season's Involvement in Boxing and MMA

Riyadh Season began its involvement in boxing in late 2023 with a boxing vs. MMA crossover clash between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, which received criticism. But the critics were silenced by the competitiveness of the fight. Alalshikh is now looking to stage another boxer vs. MMA fighter matchup between Ngannou and former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. He said, "I need to sit with Wilder [for] two minutes to see his condition. I can catch it from two minutes [with Wilder and see] if he’s ready or not [to fight]. I don’t want to waste time and money anymore. I need to check first if he’s still got it."Alternatively, Alalshikh said he could work with Ngannou for an MMA fight. "Francis will come to me in December to watch the [Usyk vs. Fury] rematch. And we have a lot of business [to discuss] together. Yes, I have on the table two options for Francis — one in MMA and one in boxing I want to discuss with [him]. The MMA [fight], you know all the time, my answer is we want to do the biggest things." Although he declined to directly confirm, he heavily implied that he was referring to a matchup between Ngannou and UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Other Notes from the Interview

Alalshikh's 2025 path for WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson is the already announced bout against Floyd Schofield on Feb. 22, followed by William Zepeda. He then hopes to make a fight between Stevenson and Gervonta "Tank" Davis.Alalshikh said he'd love to make a Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko rematch if Fury beats Usyk on Dec. 21, as it would give Klitschko the chance to become the oldest heavyweight champion in history. Klitschko, 48, retired in 2017.Alalshikh said he is meeting with Ryan Garcia on Dec. 19 to discuss Riyadh Season's potential involvement in his career. Garcia is currently serving a one-year suspension from boxing but is scheduled to return in an exhibition match on Dec. 30.Alalshikh said he plans to have undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue fight in Saudi Arabia in 2025. Inoue is currently scheduled to defend his unified super bantamweight titles on Dec. 24.Alalshikh is planning a Riyadh Season event in March, which would take place outside of Saudi Arabia due to Ramadan. An IBF eliminator between heavyweights Martin Bakole and Efe Ajagba will likely feature on the card.Alalshikh is also working on a show in May that would be either a Queensberry vs. Matchroom "5 vs. 5" rematch or a United Kingdom vs. United States "6 vs. 6" themed card. The "6 vs. 6" card would see six British boxers from Matchroom and Queensberry pitted against six American boxers from Top Rank and Golden Boy.In 2025 or 2026, Alalshikh aims to stage a Riyadh Season card in Africa.