Turki Alalshikh, who serves as Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, recently teased a reduction in pay-per-view (PPV) prices for marquee boxing matches. The goal is to help reduce piracy in combat sports and provide greater access to economically-challenged fight fans.
As a result, the IBF heavyweight title fight between British bruisers Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, set for Sat., Sept. 21, 2024 at Wembley Arena in London, England, will cost just $19.99 to stream. That’s a whopping $50 cheaper than “AJ’s” most recent fight, a thunderous knockout victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou earlier this year in Riyadh.
If the Joshua vs. Dubois title fight moves significant PPV units, expect future boxing cards to remain in the $20 neighborhood. If the endeavor proves to be a costly affair, it would stand to reason that promoters will return to the higher price tag. In addition, not everyone in the combat sports community is on board with the Turki discount, despite a “big relationship” with the General Entertainment Authority.
The IBF title became available earlier this year when Oleksandr Usyk surrendered his strap (as expected) to pursue a big-money rematch against Tyson Fury.this October in Riyadh. The winner of that fight could be in line to throw hands against the winner of Joshua vs. Dubois, or perhaps resurgent Chinese bruiser Zhilei Zhang.