How Saudi Arabia turned heavyweight boxing into the UFC

Boxing has always operated under clear restrictions. They have largely been unofficial, but this web of promoters with their hands out and sticky contract ink has often kept the best fights from taking place. Demands about purse split and which promoter’s client will occupy the “A side” of a pay-per-view poster have tanked far more fights than they should. Foolish pride is boxing’s mortal enemy and has been since before meddlesome sanctioning bodies or anti-doping tests were even conceived.

The UFC has taken advantage of boxing’s inability to align. The MMA giant had its birth in 1993 as a real-life take on the cross-codes combat of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Bloodsport. Initially conceived as a competition to anoint the best martial arts discipline, a second generation of competitors began combining disciplines. This birthed a hybrid style that is now compulsory to enjoy any MMA success at all. 

In the mid-2000s, armed with reality competition The Ultimate Fighter and a rich well of personalities like Ken Shamrock, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, the UFC outgrew its traditional competitors. WWE and boxing were left in the dust as a discipline once derided by the-Congressman John McCain as “human cockfighting” was now the combat sport du jour.

Along with a prime time reality show and exciting fighters, the UFC also had something that boxing didn’t. More akin to the way the WWE operates, the MMA concern was a self-contained promotion. The biggest fights didn’t require commitments by two sets of promotional teams to occur. The UFC simply decided they would happen and thus they did. 

The world rankings weren’t four sets of serving suggestions doled out by separate sanctioning bodies with their own agendas. They were and remain to this day set in stone. If you’re in the top 10, it's because you’re one of the 10 best fighters in the UFC at that weight. If you’re the number one-ranked fighter, you better get ready for your title shot. You won’t suddenly find yourself down at number nine because your promoter missed a sanctioning fee pay-out.

Boxing’s inherent greed has always made promoters reluctant to get out of the way for such a collaboration. It has happened sporadically over the sport’s storied history. Who can forget the phalanx of security lining the ring as Lennox Lewis was introduced by HBO announcer Michael Buffer before Mike Tyson’s name was called by Showtime’s Jimmy Lennon Jr in 2002?

But that greed we spoke about has actually become a unifying element in the world of boxing. Saudi Arabia has entered the sport in a huge way, as part of their attempt at global domination. The motivations are clear, with sportswashing high on the agenda. A troubling history masked by glitz and glamour. The Gulf state didn’t throw obscene money at Cristiano Ronaldo for nothing, after all.

With the doors wide open to the Saudi Pro League, attention turned to the boxing scene. Since Turki Al-Sheikh, Chairman of the General Authority for Entertainment, entered the fight game he has had one goal. His Excellency, as you will have heard many a boxing figure refer to him, set his sights on making the fight no one in boxing could make. A fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.

George Groves and Callum Smith set the scene with a WBA super middleweight title fight in 2018. Anthony Joshua followed his fellow Brits to the Kingdom the very next year, regaining his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles from Andy Ruiz Jr. Joshua would head to Saudi for another revenge mission in 2022, losing to Oleksandr Usyk in a rematch for the same belts. Jake Paul, the influencer-boxer who always seems to know which way the wind is blowing, followed the money to Saudi for his loss to Tommy Fury last year too.

But the movement has really kicked into high gear recently. With Usyk undertaking a mandatory obligation against Daniel Dubois, Turki found alternative work for Fury. ‘The Gypsy King’ was pitched into a bizarre fight with ex-UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. The WBC title would not be on the line, but this ten-rounder would be an official professional contest. The heavyweight champion of the world was fighting a debutant.

The trouble was, Fury prepared like he was fighting a debutant. The Manchester giant was out of shape and out of ideas in Riyadh. Fury was knocked down in the third round, but it was far from an isolated success for Ngannou. ‘The Predator’ actually outlanded Fury in power shots and ran him close on the cards, before losing a split decision. While those disputing the decision were perhaps a little giddy after seeing a debutant take the champ to the limit, there is no question that the closeness of the scores was warranted. Fury had been humbled, even if his official record would not demonstrate as such.

Beneath the main event there was plenty of heavyweight interest on the undercard. Contender Martin Bakole, British champion Fabio Wardley and former WBO kingpin Joseph Parker all scored victories in a specially-constructed outdoor arena before the main event commenced. Little did we know it at the time, but this was the start of a move towards a UFC-style model when it came to Saudi Arabia and heavyweight boxing. 

It was unusual to see so many name heavyweights under one banner. But the Fury-Ngannou undercard would prove a simple morsel compared to the feast we devoured in December. Day of Reckoning was a heavyweight supercard designed to manoeuvre towards Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder. 

Each man would have separate fights on the card. In keeping with the “roster” style of operations, Parker was awarded the Wilder clash. Joshua was pitched against Otto Wallin in the nominal main event. The undercard featured a frankly ridiculous array of talent, including Daniel Dubois facing Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic meeting Mark de Mori, Frank Sanchez against Junior Fa and Agit Kabayel vs Arslanbek Makhmudov in a battle of unbeaten fighters. And that’s just the heavyweights. WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and The Ring cruiserweight boss Jai Opetaia also defended their titles. 

It was testament to the united efforts of rival promoters, with Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and Queensberry’s Frank Warren collaborating closely, something which had longed seemed impossible. But money talks in boxing as in life. Hearn and Warren knew what was best for their profile, prospects and bank balances.

If you have even a passing interest in boxing you’ll know what happened by now. Parker scuppered the Joshua-Wilder bout by winning a unanimous decision over the latter. Joshua held up his end, stopping Wallin. In a traditional boxing sense, this was disastrous. But with Saudi operating a pseudo-UFC style model, Turki and his cabal of promoters simply reached into their roster.

So Ngannou will now meet Joshua while Parker is reportedly likely to appear on the card. Fellow Saudi roster member Filip Hrgovic has been mentioned for that one. A Wilder comeback is also being touted in, you guessed it, Saudi Arabia. Zhilei Zhang is being talked up as a potential opponent there.

Joshua, Wilder, Parker, Hrgovic, Zhang, Wallin, Sanchez, Kabayel and Ngannou is quite a roster of heavyweights to choose from. These world ranked contenders are unlikely to go anywhere else due to the money on offer. The UFC model also allows opportunity. Wilder may have struggled to rebuild in the States after another damaging defeat. But in Saudi he will be gloriously recompensed for his return.

And what of the undisputed heavyweight title fight that has driven this journey? We’re getting that too. Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will meet for all of the heavyweight marbles in February. What next for the winner? A rematch in Saudi Arabia, most likely. Then after that, a bout with whichever of ‘AJ’, Hrgovic, Parker or the rest fancies it. The heavyweight division is finally operating in a cohesive way. But is the fact we may not see a high-level battle of the big men in the USA or UK for years to come worth the trade? That remains to be seen.

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