Arab sheikh Turki Alalshikh has revealed stunning plans to host boxing fights in venues such as the Eiffel Tower, the Roman Colosseum and inside what has been one of the most famous prisons in the world.
Alalshikh helped spearhead the recent boxing boom by offering huge sums of money for the best fights to finally take place.
But his season in Riyadh and his self-promotion have also begun to organize events outside Saudi Arabia, including in London and Los Angeles.
Now Alalshikh has plans to take the sport to outrageous locations across Europe and America, The Sun reported.
“What do you think if one day there is an event, a fight in Alcatraz prison? It’s like a museum now. You know, sometimes it occurs to me that I want different places to have fights,” Alalshikh told ESPN.
“Sometimes in the mountains, maybe someday in the Pyramids of Mexico, someday in the Eiffel Tower in France, the Colosseum in Italy. Do you understand this concept?” he added.
The venues Alalshikh proposes for boxing in the future
Alcatraz
The Alcatraz Correctional Center came to incarcerate some of the world’s most notorious criminals, including gangster Al Capone.
Alcatraz closed in 1963 because its maintenance and operation became too expensive, and it has since become a museum and tourist attraction.
No sporting events have ever been held on the island, but inmates were known to play baseball and softball while incarcerated.
The Eiffel Tower
The construction of the Eiffel Tower, which stands 300 meters tall, cost £1.2 billion in 1889, which is equivalent to £30 billion today.
In 2024, the Eiffel Tower Stadium was built for the Paris Olympics with the iconic attraction over the field.
Beach volleyball and blind football were played there, but the temporary stadium was dismantled once the Games were over.
The Roman Colosseum
The ancient amphitheater, the Roman Colosseum, in the Italian capital, was built almost 2,000 years ago, between 70 and 80 AD.
It hosted several Roman sporting events, including gladiatorial games and wild animal hunts, but was not used in the 1960 Olympic Games.
However, in 2023, UFC boss Dana White attempted to stage a sensational MMA fight between tech moguls Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk at the venue.
The pyramids in Mexico
Mexico has several historic pyramids, including those at Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza.
There have been live music events organized by the Mexican government, but never a sporting event.
It is worth remembering that Mexico has one of the most famous stadiums in the world, the Estadio Azteca, in the capital of the country, which has hosted two World Cups, and will host a third in 2026.
Alalshikh also named Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, the Intrepid aircraft carrier in New York and the Chinese Theater in Hollywood as other options.
The sculpture of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial has the carved heads of US presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
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