Turki Alalshikh

Turki Alalshikh is the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority and the man behind the Riyadh Season programme that has made the kingdom the centre of big-fight boxing. He confirmed Fury v Joshua in the official announcement on 24 September 2026, calling the two men the best heavyweights of their generation, finally in the ring together.

How the fights get made

Alalshikh is credited with bringing together promoters who had long refused to work with one another, including Eddie Hearn of Matchroom and Frank Warren of Queensberry, so that fights the sport had waited years for could be agreed in weeks. The money comes from the Saudi state through the Public Investment Fund, which owns Sela, the events company that stages Riyadh Season cards; critics point out that the model depends on that wealth, and some Riyadh Season events staged outside Saudi Arabia, including a Terence Crawford fight in California, have been reported to have lost money.

The Ring and TKO

Alalshikh owns The Ring, the boxing publication whose championship belts are among the oldest in the sport, which is why Ring titles now feature on so many of the fights he backs. In March 2025 TKO Group, the owner of UFC and WWE, announced a new boxing promotion in partnership with Sela and Alalshikh.

Cardiff

Fury v Joshua at the Principality Stadium on 11 December 2026 is a Riyadh Season fight staged in Wales, streamed worldwide by Netflix, with Queensberry, Matchroom and Sela listed as promoters by the British Boxing Board of Control. The late ring walk, requested from Cardiff Council for around 1am, is designed to put the main event in American prime time.