Turki Alalshikh has a seemingly limitless imagination as far as doing different, groundbreaking things in the sport of boxing. Having given us many stacked cards and planning many more, the Saudi money man also likes the idea of having big fights play out in historic places around the world – in quite unlikely historic sites around the globe.
Speaking with Mike Coppinger of ESPN.com, Alalshikh asked how it would be if a fight took place inside the notorious prison Alcatraz one day. The former jail that listed people like Al Capone, ‘The Birdman of Alcatraz,’ ‘Machine Gun Kelly,’ and others as its inmates and has had movies and numerous documentaries made about it is now a tourist attraction. Alalshikh wants to see a big fight take place on ‘The Rock,’ and Teofimo Lopez’s name has been mentioned as the man who could possibly engage in a fight there.
“What do you think if there is [an] event, fight in Alcatraz jail one day?” Alalshikh asked Coppinger. “It is like a museum now. You know, sometimes I get in my mind I want different places to do [fights]. Sometimes in the mountains, maybe someday in the Pyramids of Mexico, someday in [the] Eiffel Tower in France, [The] Coliseum in Italy. You understand this concept?”
Some fight fans may argue that as long as the fights are good fights it doesn’t matter where they are held. But it would perhaps be interesting to see a big fight play out inside the once terribly cold walls of Alcatraz Prison or inside the mysterious Pyramids of Mexico. Of course, we have seen big fights take place inside a prison before, with, for example, Dwight Muhammad Qawi returning to Rahway Prison to fight fellow (and life-long) inmate James Scott.
But today, this would be a pretty novel concept. We know Alalshikh, with his deep pockets, pretty much gets what he wants, and maybe we will see some important fights take place in some pretty odd locations.
Speaking of Lopez, it is possible his next fight could be against the winner of this Saturday night’s clash between Jack Catterall and Arnold Barboza, the fight in Manchester to contest the interim version of the WBO 140-pound title Lopez currently holds. Saturday’s winner will become the mandatory challenger for “The Takeover.”
How weird would it be to see Lopez fight either Catterall or Barboza in Alcatraz Prison?
