Tag Archives: saudi

Posted on 11/02/2019

By: Hans Themistode

Tyson Fury successfully made his WWE debut this past Thursday night in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. Fury took on wrestling star Braun Strowman at the Crown Jewel on Halloween.

The Lineal Heavyweight champion looked better than expected, but don’t expect him to quit his day job as a world champion boxer.

Fury was last seen in a boxing ring earlier this year on September 14th, against Otto Wallin. He is expected to take on WBC belt holder Deontay Wilder in a rematch in February set for 2020. There first contest ended in a highly disputed draw. With so much anticipation to see them do it again, it has quickly turned into the most talked about fight of the upcoming year.

With most big fights, the destination for their aforementioned rematch is set to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the T-Mobile Arena. However, it seems as though there could be a change to that venue.

“We’ve had a massive offer, the same date Feb 22, massive offer from Saudi,” said Fury to reporters. “They are ‘powerhousing’ in the sports at the minute. It’s a really big offer, but we’ve got to sit down as a team, speak to MTK, ESPN, Frank Warren and thrash it out. But at the minute as we speak, the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is set and delivered providing everything goes well.”

The recent news of Saudi Arabia as a destination for Wilder vs Fury 2 should come as no surprise. Fury managed to bring in roughly 15 million for one nights work at the Crown Jewel. Saudi Arabia is also the current destination for the biggest fight remaining on this years boxing calendar in Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz 2. Many reports have surfaced that Joshua, who lost his WBA, IBF and WBO titles to Ruiz via stoppage, is set to make about 75 million.

Before Fury completed his successful WWE debut, he went on to praise just how big Saudi Arabia has become in the world of sports.

“It’s going to be a great night of WWE and wrestling entertainment and hopefully this is the first time of many times the Gypsy King comes to Saudi Arabia because who knows, next year I may even fight Deontay Wilder back here in Saudi Arabia. It’s becoming the sporting capital of the world.”

There are so many angles to this story that it is hard to digest all at once. Las Vegas, has always been the home of the biggest fights in the sport of boxing. However, with Saudi Arabia dishing huge sums of money to shift the focus to their country instead, this could in effect launch a ripple effect.

Could Fury and Wilder actually take their feud across seas and compete in Saudi Arabia in the first quarter of 2020? At this point it is difficult to say for certainty, but it does seem that it is a strong possibility.

Posted on 08/09/2019

By: Sean Crose

The rematch to the biggest upset in years is set to go down December 7th. For on that day, in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, Anthony Joshua will be looking to regain the heavyweight titles he lost from Andy Ruiz via stunning knockout this past June. “Neutral grounds,” Joshua tweeted upon Friday’s announcement. “LETS GO – Dec 7th, time to be 2X – 258MGT .” DAZN USA also jumped into the fray, tweeting: “The Rematch is Confirmed. #RuizJoshua2.” The Saudi Arabian setting may seem odd, as the middle eastern nation certainly isn’t known as a boxing haven. As Joshua stated in his tweet, however, the rematch will most certainly be held on “neutral ground,” as the location for the match appeared to be in question right from the get-go.

As it stands, Ruiz-Joshua 2 will most likely be the biggest fight of 2019 (unless Canelo Alvarez and arch foil Gennady Golovkin somehow miraculously end up engaging in a third battle by year’s end). The first bout between Mexican-American Ruiz and England’s Joshua wasn’t seen walking in as being much more than a tuneup for the then-undefeated, muscle bound defending champ Joshua. Ruiz didn’t look like much of a fighting specimen, with his smiling face and generous midsection. In fact, many simply saw the bout, which went down at New York’s Madison Sqaure Garden, as a way for Joshua and promoter Eddie Hearn to test the American waters. It was Joshua’s first fight in the States, and – with huge bouts with Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury on the horizon – there was a desire to explore the European star’s popularity on the other side of the Atlantic.

Ruiz ended up giving Joshua the rudest welcome the man could have possibly imagined to American soil. After tasting the canvas himself, the Californian proved he was more than simply a stand in who had lost a decision to Joseph Parker. For Ruiz went on to put Joshua down several times himself, until the fight was rightly stopped in the 7th. The defeated Joshua appeared to be out of it at the moment he lost his titles, his head concussed by Ruiz’ powerful and quick punches. Yet if Joshua and Hearn were stunned, the boxing world was shocked, as well. Although well regarded, Ruiz was never seen as much of a threat to any of the major players in the reinvigorated heavyweight division. Now he holds three of the four major titles, and will be entering the biggest heavyweight title matchup in years.

Although the rematch was virtually guaranteed from the outset, it’s announced location has come as something of a surprise (although Saudi Arabia had recently been talked about as the backdrop for the fight), and is already emerging as one of the highlights of the story. Joshua will enter the ring with a record of 22-1, while Ruiz will slip between the ropes boasting a record of 33-1.

The Ruiz-Joshua rematch is, fittingly perhaps, being promoted as “Clash on the Dunes.”

Posted on 12/05/2017

By: Ste Rowen

The clash of the KO kings of the cruiserweight division will land in Sochi on February 3rd.

IBF champion, Murat Gassiev will face WBA ‘Regular’ champion, Yunier Dorticos for a place in the cruiserweight World Boxing Super Series final. A final signed to take place in Saudi Arabia around May next year.

Photo Credit: World Boxing Super Series

It will be Murat’s first fight in Russia since he beat Denis Lebedev to win the IBF belt in December 2016 at Khodynka Ice Palace, Moscow. His one and only defence of the belt he won that night was his quarter final body-shot KO of Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in Newark two months ago.

Along with his fight of the year contender with Youri Kalenga in Paris, this will be Dorticos’ only second fight outside of the US. The Cuban impressively knocked out quarter final opponent, and Russian Dmitry Kudryashov in California to reach the semi-finals.

The two fighters have accumulated thirty-eight knockouts in forty-seven fights between them, as Gassiev’s record stands at 25-0-0 (18KOs) and Dorticos’ to date, 21-0-0 (20KOs).

After the announcement the Russian said,
‘The location for the semi-final was not important for me but the fact that it will be in Russia and the beautiful city of Sochi makes me very glad…Dorticos is a very good, dangerous fighter. It is going to be great test of my skills against an opponent like him.’

‘The KO Doctor’ Dorticos said,
‘No matter where I fight I will work hard to take my opponent out… I can’t wait to show Gassiev and the fans in Russia what ‘The KO Doctor’ is about.

The second semi-final between WBO champion, Oleksandr Usyk and WBC champion Mairis Briedis will take place in Briedis’ home town and quarter-final location, Riga, Latvia on 28th January.

Briedis, 23-0-0 (18KOs) eased to a unanimous points decision victory, in a particularly-difficult-watch quarter-final against Cuban, Mike Perez.

13-0-0 (11KOs) Usyk dominated Marco Huck in his quarter-final before stopping the German in the tenth round. It will be Usyk’s fifth fight on the road since he stopped Pedro Rodriguez in the seventh round at the Palace of Sports, Kiev back in December 2015.