Turki Alalshikh, the man behind Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Season, has ruled out working with former WBO super-welterweight champion Tim Tszyu. Alalshikh made this statement during the recent Vergil Ortiz vs Serhii Bohachuk card, claiming Tszyu "doesn't understand."
Alalshikh has been making waves in the boxing world with his no-nonsense approach to dealing with fighters. He's focused on putting together big fights at fair prices. Recently, he tried to make a fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford but ended up ruling out working with Canelo.
"As for the way I do business, I know why Canelo doesn't like it, because I only target big fights at fair prices, so of course anyone who likes easy fights won't like that. And I know how he feels after losing to Bivol, so he's been looking for easier fights ever since. Also, I'm not the one who's afraid of fighting Benavidez or Crawford. Therefore, I knew he was wasting our time and making excuses with big amounts of money that can't be paid."
Now, Alalshikh has turned his attention to Tszyu, stating bluntly, "I will not work with Tim Tszyu. Let him do his way, he doesn't understand."
This statement seems to have caught Tszyu off guard. The Australian boxer recently told Fight Hub TV that he'd be keen to work with Alalshikh.
"I'd love to work with him because I like what he's about, he's all about making the big fights happen and I'm all for that but I've got a team, a professional team with me and everything goes through that. From my end I can't really comment, my team is in town this week so maybe there has been some miscommunication from both sides but hopefully they can sit down and discuss about what's the plan in the future."
Tszyu suggested there might have been a miscommunication between the two camps. He mentioned his professional team is in town this week, and they might be able to sit down with Alalshikh to discuss future plans.
The Australian fighter is looking to get back in the ring soon after suffering his first career defeat to Sebastian Fundora. That fight ended with Tszyu sporting a nasty cut on his forehead.
We'll have to wait and see if Tszyu's team can smooth things over with Alalshikh. For now, it looks like the Saudi boxing promoter won't be working with the Australian fighter anytime soon.
