Turki Al-Alshikh has taken the boxing world by storm since entering the sport last year, creating some of the most eye-catching cards in recent memory, seemingly with a wave of his hand. However, despite his flashy and seemingly successful foray, Eddie Hearn believes the Saudi investor has made two very glaring mistakes.
Al-Alshikh has proven himself a boxing fanatic looking to renew and possibly save the sport, putting an unexpected shine on little-known talents such as Mark Chamberlain and Agit Kabayel, as well as the familiar names who have headlined Saudi shows.
This weekend, though, Al-Alshikh will bring his influence to the tour for the first time, as he hosts a Los Angeles card headlined by undisputed pound-for-pound number one Terence Crawford.
However, during the build-up to fight night, Eddie Hearn expressed his belief that Al-Alshikh’s apparent knowledge of the sweet science may have been flawed when creating this card, informing him of two “big mistakes.”
“You know boxing, but you made two big mistakes. The first, Israil Madrimov, who is about to knock out Terence Crawford. The second, he is not even my fighter, but what are you doing putting Jared Anderson with Martin Bakole? I know you love making big fights (but this one is a mistake).”
Regardless of Hearn’s comments, Al-Alshikh remains confident in Crawford and Anderson, despite the fact that this is the unified welterweight champion’s first fight in over 12 months and that Anderson has disappointed and lost momentum in his last three fights, the last of which was a particularly dull affair against Ryad Merhy.
“No, I’m not afraid. Crawford will eat your boxer in the eighth round, at the latest. Jared, in the fifth or sixth round, will emerge victorious.”
Both fights come with enormous intrigue and are sure to capture the attention of fans around the world, but it is the strength of the rest of the card that makes this fight night stand out as one of the strongest to ever take place on American shores.
Isaac Cruz will make his first defense of the WBA super lightweight title when he faces fellow Mexican Jose Valenzuela, while David Morrell will face Radivoje Kalajdzic in his light heavyweight debut for what will be the third world title clash on the card (the regular WBA 175-pound title is on the line).
Also, former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz fights for the third time since losing the belts to Anthony Joshua in 2019, and takes on the often controversial Jarrell Miller in an all-or-nothing affair for both men.
This follows the return of highly-rated amateur boxer Andy Ruiz, who continues his impressive start to life in the professional ranks with a showdown against Antonio Moran for the IBF International Lightweight Title in just his fourth outing.
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