Is Turki ruining boxing?

Turki Al-Sheikh has been heavily involved with the boxing scene and has become a prominent figure in the sport. But the question posed is, is he ruining the sport of boxing?

I think no. Rolly Romero says yes, and he has a point! The money that Turki is bringing in is causing big name fighters to sign big fight contracts. Household names are fighting other household names, so what can be the issue?

The issue is, according to Rolly Romero, that Turki is scheduling fights with pre-meditated expectations/outcomes. Resulting in a lack of promotion for the “B” fighter. In the case of Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero, Rolly felt like they were overlooking him, and solely promoting Garcia, angling Garcia in the media to set up a “mega-fight” rematch between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney. Romero expressed that the promotion also stunted Jose Ramirez, instead of help promote him.

Essentially, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney showed up in New York City with a guaranteed fat pay check, and another guaranteed fat pay check if they were able to walk away with their hands raised in their bouts against Romero and Ramirez. The issue? According to Romero, this leaves fighters with nothing to fight for, they’re not hungry to put on a show for the fans because their checks are already written.

In my opinion, I see where Rolly Romero is coming from, and I think that presenting fighters with lots of guaranteed money can have an impact on their training leading up to the fight, but I don’t think Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney make good examples, nor do they accurately represent the term “Fighter”

What I mean by that is, when I think about Ryan Garcia I don’t think “Fighter” I think… Immature attention seeker with a great left hook. When I think about Devin Haney, I don’t think “Fighter” I think about a slick, cat and mouse, boxer who should’ve never had his hand raised against Vasyl Lomachenko. Devin’s biggest achievement in the sport is a fight that he never won. Reminds me of when Timothy Bradley “won” against Manny Pacquiao. The reason why they make bad examples is because this is Garcia’s first fight back after being popped for PED’s. (I think this was truly overlooked by the media) For Haney, this is the first fight back after being knocked out and beaten badly by a raging… Ryan Garcia on… PED’s! (In Haney’s defense, it was a wise move planning to be untouched throughout 12 rounds. Incredibly boring, but wise) This all led to a rather poor performance by both fighters.

Although Romero has a point, in defense for Turki, I believe he’s actively keeping the sport of boxing alive. It’s not his fault that Haney, Garcia, and the Canelo fights were lackluster. Styles truly make fights, and Haney’s style isn’t intriguing. Perhaps he can stir the ship of public opinion like Belal Muhammad did with his latest fight in the UFC against Jack Della Maddelena, but we’ll just have to wait and see if Haney can make the switch.

That being said, the current state of boxing is an exciting one! We have many great fights lined up for this year, and Crawford vs. Canelo is a few months away.

My prediction? Canelo walks away with his hand raised… And we have Turki to thank, for making these types of fights happen.