by Keith Idec
TURKI ALALSHIKH promised American boxing fans early Tuesday morning that the stacked card he has put together for February 22 won’t cost them nearly as much as usual to watch on pay-per-view.
The head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority revealed via X that a card billed “The Last Crescendo,” headlined by the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol rematch, will cost “no more” than $25.99 in the United States and the equivalent throughout “the rest of the world.” Alalshikh also revealed that British boxing fans should expect to pay a maximum of £19.99 to watch a pay-per-view event that will also feature a bout between London’s Daniel Dubois and New Zealand’s Joseph Parker, a 12-round fight for Dubois’ IBF heavyweight title.
Alalshikh, who has become boxing’s most influential figure since late last year, played off U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s campaign slogan in making the abovementioned announcement regarding what he called “one of the greatest cards ever.”
“We want the fans [to] be happy and enjoy it,” Alalshikh wrote in a statement to his 7.1 million followers on X. “[Let’s] get boxing great again.”
American consumers complained when DAZN informed its subscribers October 12, the day of the first Beterbiev-Bivol bout, that it would cost $19.99 to watch a British-centric undercard in the U.S. Beterbiev-Bivol was made available to ESPN+ subscribers in the U.S. for no additional charge because Beterbiev’s promoter, Bob Arum, struck a deal with Alalshikh to offer their light heavyweight title unification fight to a broader American audience.
The Russian-born, Montreal-based Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) went the distance for the first time in 11 years as a pro in beating Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, also the site of the February 22 event. Beterbiev retained his IBF, WBC and WBO 175-pound championships and won the WBA belt from Russia’s Bivol.
Lowering pay-per-view costs, particularly in the U.S., is among Alalshikh’s missions in attempting to rebuild boxing’s ever-dwindling fan base. The price point for February 22 is the same in the UK, however, as it was when Beterbiev and Bivol first fought almost two months ago.
The intriguing undercard for the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch is listed below:
Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) vs. Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs), 12, for Dubois’ IBF heavyweight title.
Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) vs. Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs), 12, for Stevenson’s WBC lightweight title.
Carlos Adames (24-1, 18 KOs) vs. Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs), 12, for Adames’ WBC middleweight title.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) vs. Israil Madrimov* (10-1-1, 7 KOs), 12, for Ortiz’s WBC interim super welterweight title.
Zhilei Zhang (27-2-1, 22 KOs) vs. Agit Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs), 12, for the vacant WBC interim heavyweight title.
Joshua Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs) vs. Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KOs), 12, for the WBO interim light heavyweight title.
* Israil Madrimov must defeat Ukraine’s Sergii Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KOs) in their 12-rounder on the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury undercard, December 21 at Kingdom Arena, to oppose Ortiz two months later.
