Boxing mogul in talks to stage fight at Alcatraz in San Francisco

(KRON) — Five years ago, no one would have thought YouTuber Jake Paul would get in the ring last fall with Mike Tyson — who is a boxing legend but has been retired for nearly 20 years.

However, with how boxing operates as a sport, any fight — including one in from your wildest dreams — can happen if there is enough money to be made.

Enter Turki Alalshikh.

The General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia chairman and boxing mogul has deep pockets and the resources to essentially make any fight he pleases — including staging one at a historic San Francisco tourist attraction. In an interview with ESPN, Alalshikh brought up the idea of staging a fight at the Alcatraz Island jail. The interview, which was posted on Friday, has garnered more than 1.4 million views.

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LEFT: Israel Madrimov (R) lands a punch against Terence Crawford during the 12th round at BMO Stadium on August 3, 2024 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) RIGHT: A boat passes in front of Alcatraz Island on April 7, 2011 in San Francisco, United States. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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“I want to ask you about something,” Alalshikh told ESPN’s Mike Coppinger. “What do you think if there is an event/fight at Alcatraz jail one day?” Coppinger responded, “I would love that. I used to live in San Francisco. I’ve been to the Alcatraz museum. It’s incredible.”

Alcatraz officials confirmed to KRON4 that Alalshikh and the historical landmark have been in talks about hosting a prizefight in the future.

“We have had initial conversations with representatives of Alalshikh interested in hosting a boxing match on Alcatraz, but nothing has been formally presented to us at this time. We look forward to exploring the possibilities,” said Alcatraz City Cruises Director of Sales & Marketing Cornelius Geary.

The Ring Magazine, a publication owned by Alalshikh, reported Tuesday evening that a fight in Alcatraz headlined by WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez is “close to finalizing a deal.” The fight is being explored to take place in June or July. Minutes later, Alalshikh reposted the news on his X account and posted a scene from the 1996 film “The Rock,” which takes place in Alcatraz.

In the ESPN interview, Alalshikh continued to say that he wanted to stage fights at other global historic landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower in France and The Colosseum in Italy.

Alcatraz shut down as a prison operation in 1963, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It later opened up to the public as a tourist attraction in 1973. It receives about one million visors from around the world each year.

The last time San Francisco hosted a championship boxing event was in December of 2023. Local native Devin Haney won the WBC super lightweight title at Chase Center. The venue was sold out, so there is a known appetite for boxing in the Bay Area. However, world title bouts being hosted in SF are rather rare as the previous one occurred in 2001, a Floyd Mayweather fight.

Alalshikh is known to be the driving force of many recent high-profile fights, including last year’s undisputed heavyweight championship between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. The fight was in jeopardy of not happening as each fighter’s respective promoters couldn’t finalize a deal. With Alalshikh backing the bout financially, both sides were eventually satisfied and agreed upon a deal.

Fights backed by Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season aren’t exclusively in Saudi Arabia. Last August, Riyadh Season staged the world title fight between Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles.

Last fall, ESPN named Alalshikh the most influential person in combat sports, which includes boxing, MMA and wrestling. The ranking used four factors to make its list: autonomy, money, name recognition and influence. Alalshikh recently signed the biggest star in the sport, Canelo Alvarez, to a four-fight deal.

With Alalshikh’s deep pockets, nothing seems impossible in the world of boxing — even a fight at the abandoned jail-turned-tourist attraction.

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