Turki Alalshikh calls Jake Paul illegitimate: “Do it against real fighters.”
Saudi boxing promoter Turki Alalshikh is not interested in working with Jake Paul until the YouTuber is ready to test himself against real boxers.
Thus far, Paul has made a solid career fighting a series of past-their-prime MMA fighters like Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, and Nate Diaz. Most recently he scored a sixth-round finish against BKFC star ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry.
Next, he’ll attempt to earn a win over one of the most iconic boxers in the history of the sport, Mike Tyson.
While the bout has some fight fans excited to see Tyson back in action, pundits have largely been critical of the scrap due to the significant age difference between the two competitors. ‘Iron’ is a staggering 31 years older than Paul and has not competed in a professional boxing match in almost two decades.
Commenting on Paul’s forte for fighting boxers who are older and smaller — or not even boxers at all — Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, made it clear that he won’t be working with ‘The Problem Child’ until he’s ready to start fighting legitimate opponents.
“He must decide what he wants,” Alalshikh said in a quote from Boxing Kingdom on X. “If he wants to be a boxer, he must do big fights against boxers. That is my opinion. If he wants to work with Riyadh Season, he must do it against real fighters. I would then support him.”
Turki Alalshikh to deliver another epic heavyweight title fight on September 21
Backed by a seemingly endless supply of Saudi money, Alalshikh has taken the boxing world by storm in recent years, putting together a series of fights that other promoters failed to deliver on for years, including Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou, Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk, and the first-ever Queensbury vs. Matchroom five-on-five card.
Alalshikh’s next big Riyadh Season event will go down on Saturday, September 21 when Anthony Joshua challenges IBF heavyweight world champion Daniel Dubois at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London.
In June, Dubois was promoted from interim to undisputed champion after Usyk was forced to vacate the title.
