Saudi’s $5 Billion Takeover That Can Change Boxing Forever Exposed as Oscar De La Hoya’s Biggest Secret

Is it going to be good for boxing or bad? Too soon to say, but it seems promising! What’s that? Well, here’s the scoop. Oscar De La Hoya has been teasing a big announcement that would, in his words, “shock the entire hate community”. Meanwhile, a report from Reuters and other sources has revealed His Excellency Turki Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) are in talks with several promotions to create a league akin to the UFC.

It means the head of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority is looking to buy minority stakes in companies like Matchroom, Top Rank, PBC, Golden Boy & Queensberry Promotions, which will reportedly cost the Saudis a massive $5 billion. This, coupled with Oscar’s so-called shocking announcement, could mean he knew about it all along. Nevertheless, such a venture would mean a systematic change in the comparative landscape of the sport of boxing. 

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, who is a close advisor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was overseeing the final discussions about the deal a month ago. While there’s no clarity on how the UFC-isk league would be structured, there have been no statements from the promotions regarding the alleged takeover, as boxing coach Kevin Cunningham puts it. 

As of today, the sport is made up of more than four sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO, and Ring Magazine) with their own belts and subcategories, which has made it easy for fighters to avoid fights against other champions because why would they since they are already a champion. The proposed league from Alalshikh would change that entirely, forcing the best to fight the best. 

At this point, the Saudis have poured billions into the sport already by hosting some of the biggest events in the sport’s history, as they try to wean the country out of its oil dependency by increasing investments in sports that would attract tourism, boost the private sector and create more jobs. However, boxing isn’t the only sport the oil-rich country seems to have focused on!

Is the Saudi Takeover real?

Just in terms of boxing, absolutely. In fact, boxing is just the latest target of investments from Saudi’s IPF—they have previously invested in Golf, Formula 1, and Football through their bottomless pool of wealth, going as far as to hire Cristiano Ronaldo in the country’s Al Nassr Football Club. Not to mention, they are also considering investing in a whole new cycling league, making the country a true hotspot of sports.

Still, it’s not all hunky Dory for the oil-rich country, as a U.S. Senate panel called the Saudi’s efforts, “buy influence” in US sports. This happened after Saudi invested in the LIV Golf series, which started a rivalry with the PGA Tour. There were later talks of a shock merger between them that was announced late last year. However, the merger seems to have stalled between the parties, causing the U.S. Senate panel’s response. 

Despite this latest development in the world of boxing, it’s vital to remember that nothing has been set in stone yet, but the ramifications of such a deal with the promoters can have a lasting and positive impact on the sport. Do you agree?