His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has truly revolutionized boxing! After hosting some of the biggest fights in his country, the Saudi Royal hosted the first of its kind, a 5 vs. 5 boxing event between Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn last weekend. While Hearn is reeling from his devastating loss, promoter Oscar De La Hoya just had a lightbulb moment. 

Having marveled at the success of the event in Saudi, the head of Golden Boy Promotions hopped on X to announce his own lineup, which he wants to pit against Top Rank. Where will such an event unfold? De La Hoya seems to have an answer for that as well. As Oscar revealed, he sees the event transpire in Las Vegas. 

Does Oscar De La Hoya have enough fighters?

Oscar took his sweet time to appreciate last weekend’s fight! Two days after the event wrapped up with Warren and his boxers, taking home an additional $3 million in prize money, Oscar hopped on X to express his thoughts about the event. He wrote, “Great concept by @Turki_alalshikh @GoldenBoyBoxing vs @TopRank in Las Vegas”.

However, a fan doubted ‘Golden Boy’ had enough fighters to participate in such an event. So, the retired boxing legend came back with a solid response. Oscar responded, “Vergil, Ryan, Zepeda, Zurd,o Floyd, Is that enough? Or [do] you want more? Ramirez, Fonseca, Barbosa”. Oscar has maintained his stance about the dangers of boxing moving away from the US. 

Yet, there’s a good chance this event or something similar to it could transpire in the US, hosted by His Excellency. Why? Well, the Saudi Royal has expressed interest in expanding his reach to America, and the upcoming Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov in August at BMO Stadium, Los Angeles is Alalshikh’s debut in the country. Interestingly, this is not even the first time Oscar has made such a proposal for the Saudi Advisor. 

Oscar’s changing stance on Saudi boxing

Since the Saudi takeover, Oscar De La Hoya has been on the fence about boxers opting to fight in the oil-rich country rather than the US. In an interview with Marcos Villegas, the head of Golden Boy Promotions even described his plans to create a UFC-ish format for his fighters instead of heading to Saudi. 

And when His Excellency was asked about it during the presser for Ngannou-Joshua, he said, “We will miss him. Thank you”. Despite this, in a post shared by the Saudi Advisor on January 27, Oscar commented, asking HE Alashaikh for a collaboration. Oscar wrote, “I’ve promoted thousands of fighters, including Mayweather, Pacquiao, Canelo, Barrera, Ryan. I can identify a fighter and I can make you proud”.

Whether Oscar’s dream for a 5 vs. 5 event in Las Vegas comes to fruition is yet to be seen, but his history with HE doesn’t bode well for him. Meanwhile, there hasn’t been a response from the Saudis about Oscar’s proposal. Do you think there should be a Golden Boy vs. Top Rank event? Let us know in the comments below.