Prince Khalid’s Skill Challenge Entertainment sets out ambitious agenda for boxing in Saudi Arabia

Amer Abdallah is the director of Boxing at Skill Challenge Entertainment (SCEE), owned by Prince Khalid bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia.

Last week Abdallah sat down with Arab News in Dubai to discuss a number of topics, including the development of boxing in Saudi Arabia, his involvement in getting some of the biggest potential fights staged in the Kingdom, the timelines of those fights, and some updates on the boxers he advises.

For people who don’t know much about boxing in Saudi Arabia, can you describe your intentions for the development of a boxing culture in the Kingdom?

We want to start with the grassroots movement, and that was part of Prince Khalid’s vision, to bring boxing back into the Kingdom and start building it from the bottom. We’re going to start incorporating training camps, not so much just for the fighters, but also for the trainers so that they can teach the fighters.

But you’re only as good as the best guy in the gym, so we also want bring in established fighters, experienced fighters, world champion fighters to host their training camps in the Kingdom, to train in the Kingdom. We can bring these coaches, bring these fighters to see how these champions trained.

The upcoming generation can model after that. They start echoing those movements, and they start seeing things and they start developing themselves.

You know, visionary education is everything; to be able to actually see it, as opposed to just hearing it.

Combat sports have really taken off in the Middle East these past few years. What do you think are the reasons for this?

I think that we all love combat sports, not just in the Middle East. Everybody loves a good fight.

There’s nothing like the best fighter in the world fighting the second-best fighter in the world to see who the best is. There’s nothing like that if it’s good build-up and good marketing.

I mean, look at the numbers that Floyd versus Manny Pacquiao did. It was unbelievable because it was on the basis that is was two of the best guys in the world fighting each other. And the next biggest one was what Floyd versus Conor McGregor, the biggest MMA fighter against the biggest boxer.

To a boxing purist, you knew that wasn’t going be a tough fight for Floyd — but it was entertaining. And who better to sell a fight than Conor? He did phenomenal. He did great in the fight.

Everybody ended up winning in that fight. And that’s really the kind of the premise of what we’re doing now is; you build it up, put eyeballs on it, you build the grassroots, you build your prospects, you build the guys that are already there, and then you bring in the big-league guys and you put it all together.

How do you see female boxing developing in Saudi Arabia?

We’re looking forward to being able to sign a Saudi female and start building her up in the promotion also. To have a female world champion — imagine how beautiful that would be to come out of the region.

Are we any closer to getting an undisputed fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk for all of the heavyweight belts in the Kingdom?

We’re very close and I believe that these guys are going to get their offers very soon.

I believe that both guys want to fight. I definitely know that the promoters want to fight and, you know, the fighters are in the driver’s seat. They make the ultimate decision. I can’t imagine that these guys, putting everything into perspective — the finances, the timing, the legacy — wouldn’t want a fight like that to happen.

 What is the likely timeframe for a possible Fury vs. Usyk fight in Saudi Arabia?

I think January or February. I believe that’s where it will probably end up. Prince Khalid will make that decision with the backing of the Ministry for Sport. 

Congratulations for getting an agreement in place for a fight between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder to take place in Saudi Arabia. There was so much talk about this fight happening over the past few years, but it never did.

Eddie Hearn is very ambitious about it. I know Shelly Finkel is very ambitious about it. Al Haymon’s on board with it. So everybody wants that fight to happen. The fighters want it to happen. The terms are very reasonable and very fair. They’re very generous and the timing makes sense. Now we just get the paperwork in place and that’s when it’s over the line. But, until then, it’s not over the line. Until a press release comes from Skill Challenge Promotions, it’s all just talk.

Aside from the massive heavyweight fights you have been working on, what other stars in other weight divisions are you hoping to have fight in Saudi Arabia?

Boxing is in a great state. You’ve got a very popular and in-popping 135 lb division, you got a very popular 140 lb division. Super-middleweights are exciting. The heavyweights are exciting. We have cruiserweights now that are becoming exciting for the first time in a long time. There’s a lot of great fights out there to be made, and we’re looking at all of that.

We’re looking at everything and we’re looking at bringing a lot of key guys to the Kingdom and we’re already in talks with many of them. There’s going to be some very exciting stuff that comes from Saudi.

When do you see Badou Jack fighting next?

Most guys at his age want to fight once or twice a year, but Badou wants to fight three or four times a year. He wants to stay active. The more active you see him, the better he is.

He’s 39, but he’s a young 39. He doesn’t have much wear and tear, and he takes great care of himself in between camps. He was pushing to do something in the summer and I told him that he has to step back, and maybe sometime in the fall. So we’re looking at sometime in the fall or early winter to get him back out again.

Muhsin Cason is an upcoming cruiserweight prospect. Known as “@themuslimboxer” on social media channels, he has created a huge online following. Can we see him fighting in Saudi Arabia again?

We’d love to have him. He had a great performance on Badou Jack’s last card, which was the Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury “The Truth” event where he earned a first-round knockout.

He’s got a ton of talent. He’s more than likely going to be fighting on an upcoming card in August; a big stage for him. The sky’s the limit for him now.

He’s a prospect that has a lot of potential, a lot of talent. And now he’s grown this massive social media presence as “The Muslim Boxer,” which has really catapulted his fame; his presence not just in boxing, but in the social media realm also.

Very talented, very well-spoken, good-looking kid, can really fight and has a huge Muslim following. He’s going to be the one to keep your eyes on.

What can we expect in the upcoming months from Skill Challenge Entertainment?

My goal is to run shows from Skill Challenge in October, November, December, January, and those are getting put in place now.