Saudi Riyadh Season February Card Drops– And It’s Insane (The Boot Licking, Not The Card)

On Monday, the February 22 Saudi Riyadh Season card “dropped” and a wave of dopery rushed through that empty space where American boxing’s life force used to flow.

And apparently, this particular card– following in a succession of “greatest boxing cards ever” — is, also, the greatest boxing card ever. At least, that’s what you’d think if you followed the words of paid Turki gobblers in the media (plus those who’d like to be paid Turki gobblers)– and the fans who drink up narratives like cherry Slurpees on a hot summer day.

Here’s the rundown of the card purchased into existence by Saudi sportwashing figureheaed Turki Alalshikh:

• Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol II
• Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker
• Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield
• Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
• Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov
• Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel
• Joshua Buatsi vs. Callum Smith

Greatest ever? Best ever?

I mean, right off the bat, anyone jumping to those assertions has to be a bit suspect. Either their judgment is off or their “sponsorships” should be looked at.

Rumor has it that Dougie Fischer, Editor in Chief of the Saudi-owned Ring Magazine, threw out his elbow retweeting fawning pro-Turki Alalshikh responses to the card.

ESPN’s Mike Coppinger jumped online with nearly a flat-out “buy now” hard sell of what he deemed an “absolutely insane card.”

Perfect price point, no reason for fans not to support this incredible card. The rematch is worth that alone. https://t.co/TG0YbaCW2E

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) December 3, 2024

Yahoo’s Uncrowned, which has firm business ties with Saudi Arabia, opened up their piece reporting on the card with the glazingly unsubtle: “Turki Alalshikh’s ‘Riyadh Season’ may have just put together the best boxing card ever.”

The Sporting News, which was once owned by the Saudi-aligned DAZN and has recently re-entered a partnership with the streaming service, sported the headline: “Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 fight card billed as ‘greatest fight card ever.’”

I could– almost literally– go on and on with instances of the on-message unified branding that has passed for reporting from media since Alalshikh released the official fight poster and event lineup. Not surprisingly, this has happened a lot with these Saudi shows. Surely, it’s just a coincidence.

This February 22 show is a good card, no doubt. There are some intriguing matchups there. But there’s also a lot that should temper enthusiasm about what will be a long, long afternoon of boxing.

First, it’s going to be a “long, long afternoon of boxing.”

Long, as in VERY long. Like, start in the late morning and finish in the early evening “long,” with the typical Riyadh Season pacing featuring 45-minute pauses between fights, spirit-crushing musical interludes, and an environment that has the energy of a college Humanities 101 lecture hall. It’s a human soul-defying challenge to be truly excited for even the best fight if you were one of the hearty souls to watch from the very beginning of the card, so many long hours ago (that’s why most of those who throw fawning support at the Saudi cards’ greatness don’t actually watch the whole thing).

It’s like a kid getting the Playstation 5 he wanted for Christmas…but then being forced to play day and night until his eyesight goes blurry, his fingers go numb, and he starts to beg for the sweet relief of a brain aneurysm.

Except, as is the case in most of these shows, fans have just been sold on cherishing a Playstation 4 as the Playstation 5 they wanted. Realistically, this Saudi boxing run has not given fans “the fights they’ve been wanting to see” at all. Maybe one or two, at best, that couldn’t and/or wouldn’t have been put together by Western boxing anyway. I mean, seriously, Sheerazmania hasn’t exactly been running wild and Madrimov Madness isn’t exactly moving mountains. Nobody would be slobbering over some of these fights if they weren’t being sold, constantly, on slobbering over them.

The Beterbiev-Bivol 2 main event is good and significant, but it should also be noted that people were somehow talked into seeing the decent, but slightly underwhelming part one as a real nail-biter classic (which, sorry, it wasn’t).

The heavyweight bouts on the card (Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker, Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel) are also alright, but nothing that should have grown boxing men lacquering the inside of their knickers.

Golden Boy may have the most to lose on this show, as they could see one of their hottest prospects (the 22-year-old Floyd Schofield) significantly cooled down by professional wet blanket Shakur Stevenson (who may have cooled down his own career by taking his services to the Saudis by way of Eddie Hearn). The Oscar De La Hoya-owned promotional outfit is also risking Vergil Ortiz, who once upon a time was seen as a potential cash cow for the company, against a fighter in Israil Madrimov who was tricky-awkward enough to make Terence Crawford look relatively pedestrian.

Like I said, the card is good. Good.

In relation to the actual boxing scene that matters, however, it’s little more than empty calories. It does nothing to build or fortify the fan base in the parts of the world where the fan base matters in actually supporting the sport and its future. Loss leader events like this one, which really only serve to benefit a monarchy’s personal long-range political/economic goals, will actually hurt the sport long-term by sapping the life force from areas where boxing fans actually exist.

If anything, these Saudi cards really on serve to tip the hand of a public relations machine that has snuffed out the already suffocating free and independent boxing media.

I’m wondering if it will ever sink in that a strong, independent media could’ve forced into existence all the fights fans wanted by holding feet to fire and demanding accountability. And they could’ve got these fights– ones they could actually attend and enjoy at a convenient hour and in an enjoyable presentation– without having to see the sport spirited away into a moral/ethical abyss.

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