Turki Alalshikh is the most influential figure in boxing

Power behind Riyadh Season has transformed the sport with Saudi Arabia’s billions and his ruthless efficiency

“There is a game-changer coming,” the promoter Frank Warren said in late June 2023.
That ‘game-changer’ arrived in the form of Turki Alalshikh, the 43-year-old Saudi Arabian minister and adviser to the royal family, who has deep pockets and grand plans.
“When I said that, I knew it was big what was about to happen, but not as huge as it has become,” Warren added several months later. In 15 months, Alalshikh has become the most influential figure in boxing.
On Saturday, he will sit ringside for a blockbuster night at Wembley Stadium as the British heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois face off in the main event, knowing that he is the architect of a record-breaking 96,000 crowd.
It is the first ‘Riyadh Season’ event outside Saudi Arabia. Liam Gallagher will play before the headline fight, and who knows who may accompany him on stage. Elsewhere this week, there are promotions planned across London.
Without Alalshikh, none of this, in such grand terms, may have happened. There is also hope that Joshua versus Tyson Fury is still alive as a fight for next year.
At first, Alalshikh was a figure of mystery to the boxing world. But that was soon to change. The 43-year-old graduated from King Fahd Security College in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in security sciences, having majored in criminology, investigation, risk management, and general management. Within the government, he has served within the Interior Ministry, for the Emirate of Riyadh and in the office of the defence minister and the Crown Prince. In 2015, he was appointed as an adviser to the royal court and in 2017, a royal adviser with the rank of minister. That year, he also became the new chairman of the General Sports Authority.
Outside sport Alalshikh served as a cultural minister who lifted a ban on cinemas, even penning his own script for the Saudi horror movie The Cello – starring Jeremy Irons and Tobin Bell – and is actively investing in Arabic cinematic projects. 
In 2018, when Alalshikh was appointed chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, he became responsible for radical initiatives to drive interest in his homeland, and the unveiling of ‘Riyadh Season’, a six-month festival of sport, culture and entertainment which has grown year on year.
The Riyadh Season Cup pitted a Paris Saint-Germain team including Lionel Messi against a Riyadh XI from the Al Nassr and the Al Hilal clubs, featuring Cristiano Ronaldo. They have hosted snooker with Ronnie O’Sullivan, LIV golf events, and have designs on tennis. In boxing, the events started big and have grown from there, with Alalshikh bringing together Fury and Francis Ngannou for their ‘Battle of the Baddest’ fight which started the 2023 edition of the festival. Fury is believed to have earned a purse of almost £50 million for the contest, Ngannou £8 million.
“He’s a very smart man when it comes to sport and formats,” insisted Eddie Hearn, now an ally of Warren after Alalshikh helped broker peace between the promoters by pitting their stables against each other in a ‘5 versus 5’ event held in Riyadh, in May.
Boxing is a business as much as a sport, and ‘His Excellency’ – ‘HE’, as he is known to his inner circle or ‘Turki’ to boxing fans around the world – has become the principal mover and shaker. The minister has had the backing from his government to underwrite a change to the heavyweight division that was stuck due to internecine rivalries between promoters and sanctioning bodies.
With a powerful presence on social media – Alalshikh has 27 million followers on Instagram and almost seven million on X – he has moved with ruthless efficiency. Since October last year, Alalshikh has brought promoters together, made documentaries, challenged the four sanctioning bodies, and discussed how ranking systems could be created and tournaments made in order for the best to fight the best.
There have been four major events in Riyadh, in which the face of the heavyweight division has changed, bringing the blue riband division into a much-needed, identifiable top 15, and making the first undisputed heavyweight bout for a quarter of a century between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. All under the auspices of Riyadh and the GEA.
Fights that had stalled, like Joshua facing Fury or Wilder, are on Alalshikh’s radar, plus a series of fantasy fights have been targeted for the next few years. Boxing has needed a good dose of ruthlessness and greater governance.
While there have been insinuations of ‘sports-washing’, Alalshikh has responded by returning fire, speaking openly to critics, underlining his credentials as an aficionado of the sport while pointing out that investment in sport from Saudi is no different from investment elsewhere on the planet.
Alalshikh has spoken of a desire to return to the time when fans had Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman as leading sportsmen of the day. Or when Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson were revered as greats. When Fury cut his eye and the fight with Usyk was delayed, Alalshikh moved with alacrity to bring the pair together on a broadcast to dispel rumours and make a new date for the event.
Alalshikh could be described as a workaholic, one who has publicly hinted at his own battles with health issues. Whether you’re a fan of boxing quickly taking root in Saudi Arabia or not, the investment from the Middle East has changed the sport forever – Alalshikh has been pivotal to that, working all hours and often jetting around the world with his dedicated team of 20 or 30 advisers.
As Alalshikh posted on his social media channels just a few days ago: “Just wrapped up an important meeting now with my team, planning for the upcoming fights that we will make for 2024-2025. And for the rest of the world, definitely, I am focusing on Riyadh Season card, Wembley Edition on September 21 (AJ vs Dubois). Depending on the results and the results of Riyadh Season’s opening card (Bivol vs Beterbiev) on October 12, I will build the card for the rematch of Fury vs Usyk on December 21 and another big card [for] the first quarter of 2025. Stay tuned.”
Boxing is already dialled in and Alalshikh has teased more to come.