{"id":74155,"date":"2025-05-04T15:24:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T15:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/74155\/"},"modified":"2025-05-04T15:24:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T15:24:08","slug":"fatal-flop-turkis-boxing-weekend-double-header-delivers-historic-duds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/74155\/","title":{"rendered":"Fatal flop! Turki\u2019s boxing weekend double-header delivers historic duds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turki Alalshikh\u2019s big Fatal Fury weekend double-header has come and gone, and for all the talent and hype on the cards, they will go down in history as some of the worst, most tepid boxing we\u2019ve ever witnessed.<\/p>\n

You might think that\u2019s hyperbole, but the stats don\u2019t lie: Canelo Alvarez vs. William Scull, Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero, and Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez are all in the Compubox bottom 6 for \u2018Fewest combined punches thrown in a 12 round fight.\u2019 After Friday, Haney vs. Ramirez was No. 5 at 503 punches but was pushed to No. 6 on Saturday night by new No. 1 Canelo vs. Scull with 445 punches.<\/p>\n

\u2018Fatal fury\u2019 it was not.<\/p>\n

\n

Fewest Combined Thrown Punches in a 12-Round Fight
459- Parker (255) Wilder (204)
473- Ibragimov (245) Briggs (228)
490- R. Garcia (210) Romero (280)
499- Haney (214) R. Garcia (285)
503- Haney (224) Ramirez (279)
Haney & Garcia have now been involved in 3 of the 5
12-round\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 CompuBox (@CompuBox) May 3, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We have to imagine Turki Alalshikh is not a happy man. He\u2019s been bankrolling these big fights with little care for whether they actually make money or not. And for the most part, the fights he\u2019s booked have delivered. Another Fatal Fury-branded event last weekend featuring Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn in front of 65,000 fans in the U.K. was legendary.<\/p>\n

But there seems to be a reoccurring trend: when he books tune-ups like Garcia vs. Romero and Haney vs. Ramirez, or lead-ins like Canelo vs. Scull was for Canelo vs. Crawford in September,<\/a> the boxing gods make those best-laid plans go awry.<\/p>\n

Will Alalshikh be pleased that he spent over $100 million<\/a> on purses just for everyone (except Teofimo Lopez, he\u2019s cool) to lay a historic stink egg?<\/p>\n

Former ESPN reporter Dan Rafael summed up Saturday\u2019s Fatal Fury event in Saudi Arabia, writing that it<\/a> \u201cfeatured virtually no action as Scull spent most of the fight bouncing up and down, circling the perimeter of the ring, staring at Alvarez for long stretches, doing nothing of consequence on offense, and sometimes outright running away from Alvarez, whose own offensive effort was nearly as unwatchable in the most forgettable title fight of his decorated career.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Friday\u2019s Fatal Fury in Times Square, retired former multi-division boxing champion Tim Bradley didn\u2019t mince his words<\/a> when describing how dreadful things were.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody \u2014 that whole show was trash,\u201d Bradley declared. \u201cAll the fighters on there, they don\u2019t have the passion, bro. They don\u2019t have the desire, at all. Everybody is spoiled nowadays. Fighters are whack, straight up whack. All of them, straight trash. Whack. That was horrible to watch yesterday. I was so angry, man. And you can see I\u2019m still angry about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t see no hunger in these dudes, man. No hunger, only there for the money. That\u2019s the biggest problem with today\u2019s boxing. All these guys, everybody looking to line up to get that big paycheck, that\u2019s it. They\u2019re not looking to add to the sport, they\u2019re not looking to add to any kind of legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

As everyone who watches combat sports knows, sometimes a fight just doesn\u2019t live up to the hype. But this was a particularly bad series of fights from some of the best boxers in the world. It\u2019s a reminder of how bad boxing can be when those involved are willing to play it safe, phone it in, and cash out. <\/p>\n