From the outside looking in, Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing now appears to be the go-to promotional outfit for Saudi boxing financier Turki Alalshikh.
Previously, it seemed that Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions was the primary promoter for Riyadh Season events, with Warren leading shows in Saudi Arabia. However, that looks to be changing. Hearn will be staging his first show in Saudi this Saturday, an event labeled “The Night of The Samurai”, featuring some of Japan’s finest boxing talent, including Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani. Notably, there are no fighters signed with Matchroom appearing on the card.
Hearn was asked about his current relationship with Saudi Arabia and Alalshikh.
“That'll be the first show in Saudi we've actually promoted as the lead promoter,” Hearn told BoxingScene. “We were the lead promoter for Conor Benn-Chris Eubank Jnr II recently, and the one before. We were the lead promoter in Times Square for The Ring card. So yeah, we do a great job for them. I think that one thing is that [Turki Alalshikh] has always supported all the promotional companies. Like, if you look at these sponsorship deals that he does, you'll see Riyadh Season up everywhere with our shows, Queensberry shows, Boxxer shows, Top Rank, Golden Boy.
“He sponsors all of the companies and he supports everybody. It's a pretty cool thing to do. Obviously, over time, I think he'll also get people he likes to work with and he'll only give people certain responsibilities that he feels are good enough to do it. So we are promoting more and more shows now with Ring Magazine and Riyadh Season, and it's an honour to do so.”
When Hearn first took over Matchroom Boxing from his father Barry, he shared a broadcaster with several other promotional outfits. After signing an exclusive broadcast deal with Sky Sports, the company flourished. Now, with multiple promoters involved in Saudi events, would Hearn look to become Alalshikh’s exclusive provider?
“I don't think we need to and I don't think they would necessarily be in a position to do that for that reason [supporting the other promotional outfits],” Hearn said. “You do a deal with them and you think, ‘Wow,’ and then you read someone else has done a deal with [Alalshikh]. And that's just the way that he operates and he works, and that's supporting the ecosystem of boxing, which is important.
“So yeah, unless we were made an offer from Saudi Arabia to be the service provider or promoter for those events… I’ve said it before, it's like Terence Crawford against Canelo [Alvarez]. Dana White was the service provider for that event. They don't like to say that, but I don't give a shit. I just do the job and take the money and do an amazing job at the same time. So for ‘The Night of The Samurai’, we are the service provider. We are the promoter who will be servicing the event, running the logistics, and making sure everything is run bang on and that's a privilege to get that opportunity.”
Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith also shared his thoughts on the promotional outfit’s growing relationship with Riyadh Season.
“I think we've got a good relationship with them,” Smith told BoxingScene. “I think with the team on the ground we work very well. We've delivered a number of shows now with them over the years, especially because we did a number in the US with them of course. So yeah, things are good, things are in a great place with them. They're great to deal with, and as I say, to be part of that journey of delivering the biggest nights in the sport, that's really the focus.”
