Turki Alalshikh is making waves in the boxing world not just for the big fights he’s putting together but also his no nonsense approach to dealing with fighters.
The man in charge of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season made it clear he wanted to make a mega-clash between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Terence Crawford but then categorically ruled out working with the Mexican after claiming he was afraid to face the best and was pricing himself out fights.
“As for the way I do business, I know why Canelo doesn’t like it, because I only target big fights at fair prices, so of course anyone who likes easy fights won’t like that.
And I know how he feels after losing to Bivol, so he’s been looking for easier fights ever since. Also, I’m not the one who’s afraid of fighting Benavidez or Crawford.
Therefore, I knew he was wasting our time and making excuses with big amounts of money that can’t be paid.”
Then, during the Vergil Ortiz vs Serhii Bohachuk card, Alalshikh also ruled out working with former WBO super-welterweight champion, Tim Tszyu, claiming the Australian ‘doesn’t understand.’
“I will not work with Tim Tszyu, Let him do his way, he doesn’t understand.”
Appearing blindsided by the comment, Tszyu told Fight Hub TV, that he would ‘love’ to work with Alalshikh and suggested a ‘miscommunication’ might be the cause of the statement.
“I’d love to work with him because I like what he’s about, he’s all about making the big fights happen and I’m all for that but I’ve got a team, a professional team with me and everything goes through that.
From my end I can’t really comment, my team is in town this week so maybe there has been some miscommunication from both sides but hopefully they can sit down and discuss about what’s the plan in the future.”
Tszyu is hoping to get back into the ring soon after suffering his first career defeat in his last outing against Sebastian Fundora, where is suffered a nasty cut on his forehead.
