By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán & WBC President

I have visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to attend a boxing show which was quite extraordinary. I am extremely impressed by the work put together by Skill Challenge Promotions, as they have put together a memorable event. The Middle East Professional Boxing Commission has grown to be a standalone entity fully equipped to supervise world level shows and the people in Saudi Arabia love boxing.

The boxing card was exceptional. For the first time in history, an Arab woman fought in her homeland, there were three amateur fights backing up the Olympic boxing program, six preliminary fights which included local talent, followed by a sensational and dramatic WBC world title fight.

Former two-division world champion Badou “The Ripper” Jack defeated former champion from the Congo Ilunga Makabu by TKO in Round 12, to win the World Boxing Council cruiserweight title. A Cinderella story on its own, Badou Jack is now a three-division world champion (super middle, light heavy, and cruiserweight). Makabu, a true warrior, put a sensational and courageous fight, landing heavy shots in the middle rounds, making the fight dramatic as he seemed to be getting back strong to finish the fight. Badou had to dig deep to hurt Makabu, and finished with a flurry which prompted referee Mark Lyson to stop the fight.

Open scoring was used and both corners received the official scores at the end of round 4 and 8. This is a sensational rule which allows the corners to adjust during the fight, knowing the real scores of what the officials are scoring. Scores at the end of 4 were 38-37 twice and 39-36 as Makabu was knocked down in round 4. At the end of 8, the fight got close – 76-75 twice, 75-76 split in favor of Badou Jack. Jack came back strong to win the ninth, tenth and 11th dropping Makabu again.

Instant Replay was also available, even though there was no need to use such important rule.

In the main event, Englishman Tommy “TNT” Fury, younger brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, defeated American boxer and YouTube Star Jake Paul by split decision. The 2-year conflict was resolved in 8 entertaining rounds and at the end of the bell, both came to the center of the ring and showed exemplary sportsmanship and fair play.

Jake Paul has lost, and in my opinion, now the pressure is off and he will be able to start his career as a boxer. He took defeat like a man of honor and is now without any doubt a boxer in his own. Tommy Fury came to fight, had a plan and executed very well. Referee Hector Afu was sensational in what turned out to be a difficult match to officiate due to the many holdings and unorthodox actions during the fight.

Jake has been in contact with the World Boxing Council for a long time, beginning with winning a WBC amateur belt several years ago in England.

He has had several professional fights against athletes from other sports personalities, and his last fight was a dominant presentation against Anderson Silva, the former UFC champion who was able to defeat Julio César Chávez Jr.

The criticism of him from the traditional media and boxing fans has been incessant, and this was a great opportunity to validate his status as a boxer by facing Tommy Fury, who by winning will be ranked on the WBC lists.

Saudi Arabia ventured into boxing by already organizing two very important cards: Anthony Joshua’s rematch against Andy Ruiz (2019) and Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch against Joshua himself (2022), two great fights for the boxing heavyweight championship.

How did boxing come to be of interest to Saudi Arabia?

More than 30 years ago, a kid from the royal family, Prince Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, would go to bed early only to wake up at 4 a.m. so he could watch his hero on television: Mike Tyson.

Mike Tyson motivated him to follow our sport and The Prince became a great fan, with the dream of one day making the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the capital of the boxing world.

During the press conference, he announced the creation of the promotion company Skill Challenge Entertainment, and his plan to bring fights of global interest to Saudi Arabia on a consistent basis.

A great team has been formed under the leadership of Amer Abdallah with Fadi, Ravi and other leaders.

It has been an unforgettable experience. Prince Khalid opened his home to receive those of us who came to witness this event with a dinner in his garden in which a regional show was put on, with music and traditional dances, where a party was held with Mike Tyson, Tyson Fury, Devin Haney, Shawn Porter, Derek Chisora, Michael Buffer and some more of us who were honored to be present. There were dances, sword rituals with drums and Arabic chants. Children running around the garden, all of them princes of the royal family and a dinner of delicious Arabic food…and desserts!

The weigh-in was held in the gardens of a palace, with a spectacular event, but with the sun beating down on all of us.

All the boxers passed the weigh-in without problems and the boxing show was held in a stadium built exclusively for this great event.

The presence of Cristiano Ronaldo and a large number of personalities was amazing. The great former world champion Deontay Wilder arrived and the atmosphere was impressive. To have Mike Tyson, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora in the same room was a rare occasion which made it even more special.

Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud has been instrumental in bringing boxing to this country.

Did you know…?

In the history of boxing, there have been multiple occasions where personalities and athletes from other sports got into the ring.

The great Muhammad Ali fought for 15 rounds against the fighter Antonio Inoki in Japan, who never got up from the canvas kicking Ali, and it resulted in a boring draw.

José Canseco, that Major League Baseball home run hitter, tried boxing and was beaten; Legendary Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Ed “Too Tall” Jones fought six professional fights and retired undefeated. Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke went to fight several times in Japan and sold out many arenas.

It is currently a phenomenon of which we must be very careful, vigilant and attentive, so that an accident does not occur on the ring.

Today’s anecdote

My dad’s dream was to see boxing in the Middle East.

On one occasion he traveled to Lebanon, and after a meeting with the President of that country, Emile Lahoud, an agreement was reached for the possibility of presenting Mike Tyson defending his WBC world championship. Unfortunately, the war began and that dream could not come to fruition.

He was very happy to see Prince Naseem Hamed establishing himself as a great world champion, and he also had a good relation with Amir Khan when he was starting his career, as young Amir promised to one day be a world champion. I am certain that my dear Father is smiling to see the Middle East having boxing and I believe that within 2-3 years the first champion born local will be crowned.

I welcome your feedback at [email protected].