Just last year, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh made waves when he told ESPN, “Boxing is broken.” Bold statement, right? But he wasn’t just talking—he was taking action. Since 2022, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority has been pouring his passion (and a whole lot of money) into the sport. As a result, he made Riyadh the go-to destination for major fights.

From Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev (both I and II) for the undisputed light heavyweight crown to absolute blockbusters like Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua’s clashes with Daniel Dubois and Francis Ngannou, HE Alalshikh has played a key role in reshaping boxing’s landscape. And he didn’t stop at Riyadh—his vision expanded to include events in the U.S. and U.K. too. But here’s where things get interesting. After just a year of being one of the sport’s most influential figures, rumors are swirling about his potential retirement. So, what’s really going on? Let’s break it all down.

Why did His Excellency Turki Alalshikh apologize? 

Yesterday, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh took to X and dropped a massive update. Well, boxing fans, it looks like the Turki Alalshikh era has officially come to an end. In a heartfelt message, HE Alalshikh announced his retirement from boxing. He didn’t just walk away quietly—his departure also came with some major cancellations. If you were looking forward to the upcoming fight cards in London and New York City, we’ve got bad news for you.

His post read, “Dear fans, Today marks our final day in boxing. I want to thank everyone who has been part of this journey with me. To my dear friends scheduled to fight on the London and NYC cards, I apologize for the time and effort you put into the training camp. I wish you the best of luck in your future fights, as those two events have now been officially canceled. Yours, Turki 🙏🏻” 

In his message, Alalshikh personally apologized to the fighters who had been training for those bouts, acknowledging all the time and effort they put in. He wished them well in their future fights, but unfortunately, those two events just won’t be happening under his watch.

But let’s be real—if you were paying attention, you probably already questioned the timing of the announcement. And yep, you guessed it—it was all an April Fool’s prank. Some people totally fell for it, but a lot of fans saw right through it from the start. HE Turki Alalshikh was just having some fun, pulling the strings to see who would take the bait. And let’s be honest—he got a few of us, didn’t he?

Why can’t Turki Alalshikh walk away from boxing just yet?

If you’ve been following boxing news, you know that TKO Group Holdings—the powerhouse behind UFC and WWE—just locked in a massive multi-year deal to launch a new boxing league, backed by Saudi Arabia. And guess who’s leading the charge? His Excellency Turki Alalshikh.

Alongside UFC president Dana White and WWE president Nick Khan, HE Alalshikh is set to reshape boxing as we know it. There’s been a lot of buzz about how this league will actually work, especially with most of boxing’s biggest names tied up in promotional deals. But Dana White cleared things up in a recent interview with ESPN, saying: “It’s all going to go away. There’s going to be one belt. It’ll be like the UFC. The model is the model that we have [in UFC]. … WBC, IBF, WBA, etc., etc.”

That means no more WBC, WBA, IBF, or WBO chaos—just one true champion per division. On top of that, the league plans to cut down boxing’s weight classes to just the originals: flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight. That’s a lot of work, and HE Alalshikh needs to take care of all the issues that will come along the way. And let’s not forget—there’s a huge event in New York next month (Fatal Fury) and Canelo Alvarez just signed a four-fight deal under his Riyadh Season.

So, does it really make sense for HE Alalshikh to walk away from boxing right now? Not even close. His hands are all over this, and boxing’s future is about to change in a big way—with him at the center of it. Did you fall for it? Or did you see right through it from the start? Do let us know your thoughts below.