Canelo Alvarez successfully reclaimed the WBC super middleweight title with a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Christian Mbilli in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, the championship bout was soon overshadowed by controversy outside the squared circle, as key Riyadh Season architect Turki Alalshikh faced widespread criticism for appearing visibly uninterested in the action, spending the majority of the fight engaged in lengthy conversations with his ringside companion rather than watching the elite-level contest unfold directly in front of him.
The championship bout took place under an unusual cloud of tension, arriving just two days after severe security concerns rattled the Saudi capital. Saudi Civil Defense officially reported that debris from two intercepted Houthi ballistic missiles fell within Riyadh on Thursday, October 29, resulting in minor injuries to one civilian, alongside property damage to a local house and vehicle. Despite the jarring security scare that preceded fight week, the mega-event pressed forward, culminating in Saturday night’s high-stakes showdown between the sport’s biggest Mexican superstar and an undefeated challenger.
Inside the ring, Alvarez delivered a vintage performance to capture the judges’ favor. The official scoring reflected a clear victory for the pound-for-pound star, with judges ringside handing down cards of 117-110, 116-111, and 115-112 in favor of the champion. Independent ringside observers, including World Boxing News, scored the bout even wider at 118-110, cementing Canelo’s dominance over the course of the 12 rounds.
The fight marked another major chapter in Alvarez’s lucrative four-fight agreement with Riyadh Season, a partnership that yielded a reported $47 million guarantee for the Mexican icon. Yet, for a contest commanding such astronomical financial investment and global promotional weight, the ringside optics involving the event’s chief financial backer raised immediate eyebrows from media and spectators alike.
Turki’s Ringside Behavior
Throughout the duration of the 36-minute encounter, World Boxing News observed Alalshikh repeatedly turning away from the canvas to engage in extensive discussions with the person seated directly beside him. This lack of engagement persisted through the vast majority of the rounds, occurring even during pivotal moments when Alvarez and Mbilli were trading heavy punches at close range mere feet from the VIP seating area.
For a fighter of Alvarez’s stature—competing in a high-profile world title defense worth a staggering $47 million—the repeated avoidance of the action gave the distinct impression of a public snub from the man helping bankroll the lucrative Riyadh Season series.
Turki’s extraordinary behavior quickly caught the attention of boxing fans watching around the globe, sparking a wave of commentary and criticism across social media platforms like X.
"Nice to see the massive fight fan Turki Al-Sheikh having a conversation throughout the entire fight," one viewer posted online, capturing the sarcastic sentiment shared by many in the digital boxing community.
Another viewer bluntly declared, "Turki has completely checked out of boxing."
A third user chimed in with frustration, writing, "Bro Turki Alalshikh hasn’t watched a moment of this fight…"
The stark contrast between Alalshikh’s public persona as an ardent, hands-on boxing superfan and his apparent apathy during one of the year’s most expensive title fights fueled significant debate among industry insiders and supporters.
WBN’s Take
Turki frequently proclaims himself to be a passionate devotee of the sport, yet showing up ringside and appearing blatantly indifferent to the action hardly supports that claim. It almost looked as though the self-professed matchmaker wanted to make a deliberate point about something. Whether that was his actual intention, however, is a question that only Alalshikh can truly explain.
It remains deeply perplexing why anyone intimately involved in bringing Canelo back to Saudi Arabia for a fight package worth nearly $50 million—especially with the contest proceeding just two days after missile debris injured a civilian and damaged local property—would appear so utterly detached from watching the historic encounter.
It is unfathomable and, in the view of World Boxing News, another clear indication that modern professional boxing continues to be steered in troubling directions. Elite fighters travel to the Middle East to compete inside a squared ring under the brightest lights, not to find themselves confronting the shadow of regional missile threats while preparing for a career-defining world championship fight.
Alalshikh has undoubtedly injected enormous financial capital into boxing, single-handedly reviving stagnant divisions and bringing several major, fan-friendly fights to fruition. However, spending millions of dollars does not automatically translate into a genuine understanding of the sport, nor does it guarantee a vested interest in the long-term well-being of boxing and its athletes.
The sport invariably suffers when the figures holding the promotional reins give the public impression that they neither understand nor truly care about the nuances of the athletic competition taking place before them.
Unfortunately for Turki, his demeanor during Canelo’s championship victory did little to reassure skeptics who already question whether his involvement stems from a deep-rooted love for boxing or purely transactional interests. While it is entirely possible he was discussing pressing business matters, the critical question remains: why choose those specific 36 minutes to conduct them, right as Canelo fought for a world title directly in his line of sight?
The man helping fund Alvarez’s latest victory clearly had other things on his mind. Whatever his internal motivations might have been, repeatedly turning his back on one of boxing’s ultimate standard-bearers during a triumphant world title defense proved to be a poor visual for Riyadh Season’s leadership and a direct slight toward the champion.
Adding to the baffling dynamic, Alalshikh enthusiastically jumped into the ring immediately after the final bell to celebrate wildly with the winner, only compounding the mystery of why he spent the majority of the actual fight looking entirely elsewhere.
