The relationship between His Excellency Turki Alalshikh and Top Rank boss Bob Arum is starting to show some cracks. At least, that’s what it seemed like after the 92-year-old promotional veteran revealed that the Saudi Royal went behind his back to talk to Jared Anderson to make the fight against Martin Bakole in August on the massive Riyadh Season card in Los Angeles. 

If you didn’t catch the action between this heavyweight duo—Bakole caused a huge upset at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles by defeating Anderson via a 5th-round knockout, handing the rising Texan prospect his first career loss. Over a month out, the veteran promoter appeared in the Fight Freaks Unite Podcast with journalist Dan Rafael, claiming the fight was the absolute worst choice for ‘The Real Big Baby.’

Revealing how the fight actually came together—which was on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov—Arum said, “I want everybody to know that it wasn’t us. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh went right to the fighter and made this proposal for money that the fighter had never seen before and picked as his opponent Bakole, who is a tenacious puncher…”

He further added that it wasn’t a surprise to see Bakole completely dismantle Anderson during the fight. Arum urged fans not to blame his promotion for Anderson meeting this disaster, which Arum felt was a complete mismatch, adding, “We were against that fight.” Arum further blamed His Excellency for waving money “at these kids,” which convinces them to take such fights. 

Arum also revealed that they contemplated taking the matter to the court to prevent this fight from happening, but explained his company doesn’t do such things. Despite making money from the fight by allowing it to happen, Arum claimed, “It was the stupidest fight Jared could have taken.”

Meanwhile, since this news came to light, Jared ‘The Real Big Baby’ Anderson has shared his take on the matter. 

Jared Anderson responds to the revelation from Bob Arum

From the very first bell, Bakole came out swinging, dropping Anderson like a bad habit in the opening round. By the fifth, Bakole had sent him to the canvas two more times before the referee mercifully waved it off. Anderson, for his part, acknowledged the mistakes he made, stating, “I made some of the same mistakes I been making.”

Anderson has a habit of pulling straight back with his guard down, which did him in the fight. Regardless, he took the first loss on his chin adding, “You win some, you lose some. … Hats off to him, I lost. … He was strong as s**t.” Fast forward to today, after Arum leaked the details about His Excellency’s involvement, Anderson wrote on X, “Hope this didn’t surprise yall lol we all know how he get down.”

It’s hard to blame His Excellency Turki Alalshikh for this situation. After all, he’s just trying to line up the best fights possible. If a rising star like Jared Anderson can’t seize the moment, it kind of speaks for itself. In boxing, you either rise to the occasion or get knocked down—literally. If Anderson couldn’t step up, maybe he’s just not ready to swim with the sharks yet. What do you think?