Former WKA kickboxing world champion Amer Abdallah has been appointed the new Head of Boxing for Skills Challenge Entertainment – Saudi Arabia’s first fully integrated sports and entertainment agency run by chairman Prince Khalid bin Abdulaziz.
The agency recently played host to Anthony Joshua’s rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Abdallah has been given the hefty task of growing boxing in the Middle Eastern nation in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 20230 plan.
His first assignment will be in co-promoting Jake Paul and Tommy Fury’s long-awaited grudge match on February 26 in Diriyah. “I have a great relationship with his highness Prince Khalid bin Abdulaziz and have been brought on as the head of boxing for Skills Challenge Entertainment, a position I take with great honour,” Abdallah told Express Sport. “His highness has given me a lot of ambitious goals to hit and the first fight we are doing together is Jake Paul and Tommy Fury with the co-feature of Badou Jack and Ilunga Makabu.”
Boxing has long been plagued by promotional and network battles with many of the most anticipated fights failing to get past the negotiation table. Abdallah hopes that in his new role, he can help put together those contests that would otherwise fall by the wayside.
“Those would be my big three fights, I’d also love to put on Badou Jack (managed by Abdallah) vs Sergey Kovalev then we also have the Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford fight and Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia, which is still out there as well. I hear that’s nearly finalised.”
One fight that has struggled to come to fruition in the past is Paul vs Fury. The pair have been booked to face each other on two occasions to no avail but look set to finally box at the third time of asking over in Saudi Arabia. Given their messy history, many fans have questioned whether the fight will actually happen. But Abdallah assures punters that there are no obstacles facing the bout.
“This fight is so exciting because anytime we want something and don’t get it we want it more,” he concluded. “The fight has fallen through twice before but on February 26 it’s going down. Tommy’s flights are booked, his Visas are done, there’s no issues with his travel. Jake Paul is right next door in Dubai, he’s ready to go. We are so close to making this thing happen and sure people are going to doubt and predict but once Tommy touches down here it’s over. People will only talk about what happens on February 26.”