Faisal Bafarat, CEO of General Entertainment, has explained the decision to stage a Riyadh Season event in London.
The sport has been anchored exclusively in Saudi Arabia since Riyadh Season added boxing to its roster. However, Los Angeles on August 3 will be the first show staged away from the Middle East.
The powers that be then decided to add London to its destination list, with Anthony Joshua facing Daniel Dubois as the headliner on September 21. Riyadh Season: Wembley Edition will see the IBF heavyweight title on the line and a host of fighters who have previously appeared in Riyadh.
Those ‘ambassadors’ – as they are called, the likes of Joshua, Hamzah Sheeraz, and Terence Crawford, are signed fighters to Riyadh Season – in all but name. There will be more to follow.
Asked about the London show specifically, Turki Alalshikh’s right-hand man told TNT Sport,” “The reason behind it is simple. Boxing is international, and international fans are everywhere in the world.
“In our last boxing matches, our attendance was above seventy-five to eighty percent from outside. So we can’t say that we want to support this sport and be part of it and have it exclusively in Riyadh. We announced the Riyadh season card in LA on August 3. It was announced last month. We announced the second Riyadh season card at Wembley. I think there will be more around the world. Riyadh will definitely be one of the venues, but it is not strictly for Riyadh. It is where the best place for the fight and the fans is.”
Asked about staging an event with over 100,000 attending, Barafat responded, “We are not strangers to big crowds in the Riyadh season. In some of the events, we received up to a million and a half. So we are very accustomed to the big crowds. But the challenge here is that we want to promise UK fans that we will give them a good event.
“It is not only going to be boxing. It will be something else so everybody is happy and looks forward to future Riyadh season events.”
Finally, on whether Wembley could be a permanent fixture, Barafat concluded, “I think depending on the event’s success will decide the future, but this is the first in Britain. I am fairly sure this isn’t going to be the last.”
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
