Turki Alalshikh has never been shy about telling the boxing world what he wants. This weekend, through Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger, he laid out a seven-fight wishlist: Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua, Jai Opetaia vs. David Benavidez, Shakur Stevenson vs. Devin Haney, Naoya Inoue vs. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, a Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Alvarez rematch, Filip Hrgovic vs. Rico Verhoeven, and Crawford vs. Ryan Garcia.
A list like this reads differently to the business than it does to fans. A wishlist from the most powerful money man in the sport is not a dream board. It is a negotiating document. Every fighter and manager named on it just found out what they are worth to Riyadh. So it is worth going through the list the way the business actually works, sorting the fights that are already moving from the ones that are pure theater.
Fury vs. Joshua is the closest thing to a lock. Both men took tune-up wins this summer, Alalshikh has been teasing a big announcement since July, and the fight has been targeted for late November. This one has been marinating for the better part of a decade, and the only thing that ever stopped it was money and timing. Alalshikh solves the first problem, and both careers have run out of road on the second. It happens.
Inoue vs. Bam Rodriguez is the best pure boxing match on the list, and it is genuinely close. Bam vacated his super flyweight belts and moved to bantamweight specifically to chase this, and the plan is a unification with Christian Medina first, then Inoue in the spring. The complication is that Inoue has publicly said he will not wait past early next year before moving up to featherweight. There is a real deadline on this one, but everyone involved wants it, and Alalshikh is holding the checkbook. Likely.
Crawford vs. Canelo 2 is a math problem, not a boxing problem. Canelo has wanted the rematch since the night he lost, and he still has fights left on his Riyadh Season deal. Crawford has everything to lose and nothing left to prove, which is why his side has floated a number reported at nine figures. If Alalshikh decides he wants it badly enough, it gets made, because the first fight did enormous business and sequels are the easiest sell in this sport. Canelo has business to handle first at the end of October, and then this becomes the biggest domino of 2027.
Opetaia vs. Benavidez is the fight on this list that should excite real boxing people the most. Opetaia has cleaned out the cruiserweights and has no dance partner left. Benavidez spent years chasing Canelo and never got him, and a jump to face Opetaia would finally give him the kind of high-stakes event his résumé deserves. Opetaia has already called for it publicly. This is exactly the kind of fight only Alalshikh’s money makes possible, because on paper neither side needs the risk. If it gets done, it steals the show.
Shakur vs. Haney is the strangest entry, because it just died in public. The two camps spent the summer arguing over a 144-pound catchweight, Shakur said he verbally agreed and told Zuffa to paper his side, the Haneys pushed back on the weight, and in August Shakur announced the door was closed forever and fans would never see the fight. Never is a long time in boxing, and Alalshikh putting it on this list tells you he intends to reopen that door with a wheelbarrow of money. But between the promotional split, the platform conflict, and the personal bitterness, this is the hardest deal on the board. Coin flip at best.
Hrgovic vs. Verhoeven is not really a boxing match. It is a crossover event, putting a world-level heavyweight boxer against the most decorated heavyweight kickboxer on the planet. These fights exist to pull in an audience that does not watch boxing on a normal Saturday, and Alalshikh has never hidden his appetite for spectacle. Easy to make, because there are no sanctioning bodies or rival promoters to fight through. Whether it should count as one of the seven is a different conversation.
Crawford vs. Ryan Garcia belongs in the same bucket. It is a name-value fight, not a competitive necessity, and it only exists on this list because Garcia sells and Crawford is the sport’s pound-for-pound king with a short list of meaningful opponents left. If Crawford takes the Canelo rematch, this becomes the retirement payday after that. It is a maybe that depends entirely on how the bigger dominoes fall.
So here is the count. Fury-Joshua happens. Inoue-Bam happens. Opetaia-Benavidez happens if Benavidez wants it. Crawford-Canelo 2 happens if the number works. That is four with real momentum. Shakur-Haney needs a resurrection, and the two crossover fights are checkbook decisions that could be announced tomorrow or never.
The bigger takeaway is what the list says about where the sport sits in late 2026. One man in Riyadh publishes seven fights, and within a day every outlet in boxing is handicapping his shopping list. That is the state of the business. The fights are great. The concentration of power behind them is a story worth watching.
