Saudi Arabian mover and shaker Turki Alalshikh has already given the sport he loves so much a number of mega-fights, and mega-cards. And the run doesn’t look like coming to an end any time soon. Alalshikh, speaking on The MMA Hour just a couple of days before the massive and historic Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk heavyweight unification showdown goes down in Riyadh, listed the “dream fights” he is looking to make either this year or next year.
And it’s safe to say each one is a real mouth-watering proposition; even if one of these fights seems to be quite unlikely. Have a look and see what you think.
These are the fights Turki wants to make happen:
Terence Crawford Vs. Canelo Alvarez
Naoya Inoue Vs. Gervonta Davis
Tyson Fury Vs. Anthony Joshua
David Benavidez Vs. Dmirty Bivol or Artur Beterbiev.
The fight that jumps right at at me here, is the one between “Monster” Inoue and “Tank” Davis. But this one jumps out as unrealistic, very much a dream fight in every sense. Why? Because Inoue, who began his pro career at a lowly 108 pounds, is simply too small for Tank, who has boxed as high as 140 pounds. However, despite the sheer difference in size, plenty of people have called and are calling for these two great and unbeaten fighters to meet at a catchweight – Alalshikh included.
“My dream fights are of course Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua, Canelo Alvarez versus Terence Crawford, David Benavidez versus Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol,” he said on The MMA Hour. “And Gervonta Davis, if he gets smart, versus Naoya Inoue. These are dream fights I like. If they [Inoue and Tank] reach the right weight and give us the right proposal, we can deliver it. But there are important things – Inoue is a great fighter, don’t keep him fighting only inside Japan, let the world see it. Make him come to us, make him do fights in Saudi Arabia, in America, in London, we are ready to talk about it. He’s a great fighter, it would be a shame if he quits after some years and 99 percent of his fights are in Japan.”
So, will Inoue look at Alalshikh’s offer? The weight problem aside – and to repeat with the risk of harping on about it, Davis really is far too big for Inoue, to the extent that the fight would be unfair even at 130 pounds, this a weight Tank would surely never agree to in any case – Inoue may not like hearing how he should be “made to come to us.” Inoue is a superstar in Japan, and he can easily fill the 55,000 capacity Tokyo Dome. Why then should he fight in Saudi, or in the US, or in the UK?
Alalshikh has done great things for the sport, and most of his above dream fights are indeed potential thrillers we’d all love to see. But not Inoue-Davis. For the reasons I’ve written here. Also, as special as Crawford is, isn’t he simply too small for 168 pound king Canelo? At what weight would these two possibly fight?
Discuss!