Gervonta Davis Exposes The Plans For A Saudi League – ‘Would Never Happen’
Gervonta Davis has doubts about the Saudis’ plans for creating a boxing league.
Reports indicate that the Saudi Public Investment Fund is working on a $4/5 billion deal alongside Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions. That would allow them to create the biggest events and hold a minority stake. The move is seen as a way to combat the influence of the four bodies, IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO, which currently govern the sport.
There have been several concerns already. Boxing could end up having a centralized system following the UFC model. Although fans get to see the biggest fights, fighters have complained about not being paid enough. The UFC’s decision to settle two-class action lawsuits for alleged breach of antitrust laws hints at that.
There is also a danger that boxing will suffer at a lower level. Grassroots organizations may have less investment. Meanwhile, smaller promoters will not be able to make an impression in the sport, at the expense of young talent. Carl Froch has expressed his worries previously about the money coming from Saudi Arabia.
Davis Reacts
“It’s being ruined by Saudi Arabia at the minute. The money’s killing it. There’s a lot of money floating around and not enough getting put back into grassroots boxing, and not enough going into the aftercare of boxing and retired fighters and injured fighters. Some of the hundreds of millions being invested could go to the [British Boxing] Board of Control and be used to look after fighters,” Froch said
Now, Tank Davis has done the same.
“That would never happen because everybody don’t agree; everybody are not on the same page. That would of been happen,” Davis said
According to the New York Times, the league needs a $2 billion investment to start off with. This involves signing up 200 active male boxers over 12 weight divisions. The aim is to create regular fights between them. This would be done to remove the conflict between competing networks and promoters, which has prevented bigger fights from being made.
Will It Happen?
There would be a top 15 in each division, with cards across the globe. This has been hinted at with Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov taking place on August 3 in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua is being linked with a fight against Daniel Dubois in September at Wembley. Paulie Malignaggi has talked up the potential for the league.
“I want the contenders in there, too. You ‘X’ out a lot of contenders by never letting them into your ‘circle of trust. I don’t want to see the same eight guys fighting,” Malignaggi said. “I want to see [unbeaten three-division champion] Shakur Stevenson fight the top champion. If this is going to happen, it needs to be guided correctly. The potential is phenomenal,” Paulie Malignaggi added
Comments
Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
