Turki Alalshikh is now one of the most influential men in boxing.
The man behind Riyadh Season has made some of the biggest fights possible, from the undisputed heavyweight battle between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to the upcoming light-heavyweight ‘four crown showdown’ on October 12 between Artur Beterbiev and Dimitri Bivol, via plenty of other huge cards like the Matchroom vs Queensberry 5 vs 5.
Alalshikh’s latest show was Riyadh Season’s first UK-based event, touching down in Wembley Stadium with a main event of Anthony Joshua against new IBF World Champion Daniel Dubois. Dubois won by stoppage in the fifth, leaving questions as to where ‘AJ’, 34, goes next.
When talking to talkSPORT Boxing, promoter Eddie Hearn was asked if there was a rematch clause for the fight and explained the situation.
“Yes there is. Rematch clauses come in many different forms. We have separate contracts. Normally, we would have a contract with Frank Warren and Daniel Dubois. In this instance, we have a fight with Riyadh Season, one more fight with ‘AJ’, and one of our options is to fight Daniel Dubois. His Excellency will deal with Frank and Daniel and make that happen.”
Hearn then confirmed that the rematch is also what Alalshikh wants for both men.
“His Excellency wants to make the rematch. ‘AJ’ will always want the rematch because he’s a fighter, and Daniel Dubois is up for the rematch as well, it’s the biggest fight for him, and they will fancy it. They just stopped him.”
Quite when the second instalment will happen is unknown as Joshua will need time to recover from what was a bruising night in the ring.
