In a lengthy interview with Ariel Helwani, Turki Alalshikh talks about all of his big plans for the sport of boxing including some of the fights he’s either working on would like to make. Here are some highlighted excerpts from the full interview below.
Alalshikh on plans for his next big card
“My idea to do big card, make the world see it soon…I’m being honest with you, I’m working on Canelo and Crawford card, and I want this fight. And we are thinking to do it in America because we want it huge and biggest stadium and big PPV. We want to do it in the end of the year or beginning of the second year.
“I hope no one stands in our way to doing something like this from the promoters or the belts because in the end if we want it, we will do it…I am very angry and I don’t understand why the IBF put mandatory to Canelo very soon. And they do it like this for the third time with us…we don’t understand it, especially from IBF.
“I hope they understand this message because in the end we don’t want the fighters to step down from his belts if this is necessary.”
Turki Alalshikh on what dream fights he would like to make in boxing
“Dream fight, of course Tyson vs Joshua, Canelo vs Crawford, Benavidez with Bivol or Artur, Davis — if he gets smart — and Inoue. This is dream fight I like, but they must matching the weight together.
“If [Davis and Inoue] reach the right weight and give us the right proposal, we can deliver it. And this is message from me to you, to them also.
“But there is important things, and this is a message for Honda and Inoue. Please, please, please. He’s great fighter, don’t keep him fight only inside Japan. Make the world see it. Make him come to us, make him doing fight in Saudi Arabia, in America, in London, and we’re ready to talk about it.
“He’s great fighter. It will be shame if he quit after some years and 95 or 99 (%) of his fights is inside Japan.”