His Excellency Turki Alalshikh reports that the pay-per-view price for Riyadh’s Feb. 22 Season Pass is $19.99 in the UK and $25.99 in the US and “rest of the world.” It’s a great price for the six fights announced today on the card
PPV opportunities
All five undercard bouts could be headliners, and surprisingly, those bouts are listed below. The main event for the February 22 card is a rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and former WBA champion Dmitry Bivol. The combination of the PPV price and the big fights on the card make it attractive. I don’t recall seeing such a card stack in many years.
There was some grumbling from fans and Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn about the outcome of the first fight with Beterbiev on October 12th. So, there will be a rematch to settle.
Bivol looked like he didn’t want to be there after the seventh round and was in survival mode. He 100% deserved the loss and Beterbiev will make sure the Bivol fans have nothing to lose afterwards.
The undercard has two great fights that fans will be talking about during the build-up. They are the following:
- Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israel Madrimov
The Ortiz Jr.-Madrimov fight is a test because it requires Madrimov to get through his Dec. 21 fight against Serghii Bohachuk without suffering a loss or injury. Promoter Tom Loeffler considers it “bad karma” that Madrimov is scheduled to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. on Feb. 22, when he has a tough fight against Bohachuk this month.
“Bad Karma to post this. Bohachuk has over 90% KO ratio, knocked Vergil twice. He’s going for the KO against Madrimov on December 21, so there’s no funnier job with the judges,” Tom Loeffler told X.
We will make the PPV price no more than 19.99 GBP in the UK and US and no more than 25.99 USD in the rest of the world 🔥🥊 (We want the fans to be happy and enjoy it… Let’s be good boxing again 💪 🏻) pic.twitter.com/Y2SqdJqENb
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) December 3, 2024
No Gimmes
“He has deep pockets and they pay fighters a lot of money,” said commentator Ade Aladipo. talkSport Boxing regarding His Excellency Turki Alalshikh who drew up the February 22 card.
“In the past, fighters would say, ‘I’m not doing this fight because I’m not getting paid enough.’ They almost can’t turn down these matches now. It is much more than what they are used to being paid. In addition, it has broadcasters and promoters working together at the moment.
“It would be almost impossible to put this card together without deep pockets. They are all big, important games. There are no tricks. Most fights under the card are 50-50.
Before Turki Alahikh got into boxing, many of the fight cards of the last five years were terrible and getting worse. For fans who remembered the big cards in the 1980s and 1990s, they were disillusioned with the sport.
Many fans had stopped watching boxing because of the inglorious events, which were filled with mismatches that were deliberately put together by the promoters to sell a bad product. That’s still going on, obviously, but at least there’s Turki, who puts up big fights.
“The first match will probably be Zhilei Zhang against Agit Kabayel. You’re talking about two top six heavyweights walking first. That’s usually a six or eight rounder,” Ade said of the Feb. 22 card.
“Nah, it has to be Beterbiev vs. Bivol. You are talking about two of the best light heavyweights of all time. The first race was so good. All the belts, every belt in the division,” Ade said when asked if the Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker fight should headline the Feb. 22 card.
“Dubois’ rise over the last year has been great. It will be a good co-main event, but even he knows the two best in the world have to go first. Beterbiev is pound for pound #5. Bivol #6. These are two of the best. They have to go first,” said Ade.
