Turki Alalshikh intends to put together another stacked Riyadh Season card in February.
The Ring’s Mike Coppinger reported on the newest episode of “Inside The Ring” on DAZN on Monday that Alalshikh also would like to bring back
David Benavidez and
Devin Haney to co-headline that event if they win their upcoming bouts November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Benavidez and Haney would have to agree to quick turnarounds as well if they were to win and fight again approximately three months later.
Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) will defend his WBC light heavyweight title against Anthony Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) in the main event of “The Ring IV” card DAZN will stream November 22.
Haney (32-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC) will challenge WBO welterweight champ Brian Norman (28-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC) in the 12-round co-feature at ANB Arena.
Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and owner of The Ring, initially thought Canelo Alvarez would headline a February card in Riyadh. Coppinger also reported during Monday’s show that
Alvarez needs elbow surgery, which will indefinitely postpone his return from a
unanimous-decision defeat to Terence Crawford on September 13 in Las Vegas.
The rematch between light heavyweight rivals
Dmitry Bivol and
Artur Beterbiev was the main event of a loaded Riyadh Season event February 22 at ANB Arena.
Bivol beat Beterbiev by majority decision to win The Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 175-pound championships. In their first meeting, Bivol lost a majority decision October 12 in Riyadh.
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing