How do UK fight fans feel about fights in Saudi Arabia?

As long as it airs at a decent time in the UK then I don't have any problem with championship boxing taking place in Saudi Arabia. The UK is not exactly a paragon of morality nor any other country, for that matter

 

Couldn't care less.

 

I think people are very selective about when they care about Saudi investment.

 

Doesn't bother me. Good main event times and they usually put up a load of money so the cards are good.

 

Just means as a fan we will get less and less opportunities to see big fights in this country

 

Obviously a backwards country with blood on its hands and a sizable part of it's population part of a death cult that doesn't value human life...

But enough about the US...

I don't buy sports washing as a concept if anything it helps people learn which countries are not particularly nice. If the Saudis want to pay silly money and we get big fights in prime time I don't mind.

 

Politics aside, better having main fights at 2100 / 2200 UK Time rather than 0500am UK Time.

 

The events are crap. No atmosphere whatsoever and they suck the fun out of it.
Ethically it's not a great look but they've proven that everyone has a price. All well and good getting on your high horse but an extra zero on the cheque will get you down sharpish.

 

I dont care from a moral perspective but I do care from a spectacle perspective. There's no difference in terms of atmosphere between the Saudi fights and those covid BT studios fight. You might as well have Fury V Usyk in Eddie Hearns back garden, better atmosphere there.

 

Most people aren't bothered but what winds them up is all the sanctimonious corporations, athletes and celebrities who love to lecture the rest of us about these issues but are then happy to throw that all out the window when it comes to lining their own pockets or advancing their own careers. They then double down with this arrogance and horrible attitude when their hypocrisy is pointed out to them. The World Cup in Qatar is a perfect example.

 

Morally feels a bit weird, but then i do love those 9pm first bell so hypocrite really.
Atmosphere wise (from watching on telly) not as good.
On the moral thing its hard anyway to know were to start and end on that. USA have invaded and bombed more countries since the end of the second world war than any other nation, but we wouldnt bat an eyelid about vegas. Saudi are bombing the **** out of yemen, and opress women and others in their own country. What about North korea, would anyone have a problem with it being there? what about the Nazi held olympics? got the same thing with the world cup too. I dont know either like just thoughts.
One of the most iconic fights in history, the rumble in the jungle, was a case of what be referred to today as "sports washing".

 

The same way I feel when I hear the Middle East gets to host a huge football event and not us.

There's no atmos, can't imagine it being fun as a fan, and we seem to miss out on big fights because of it.

 

Iirc when the boxing first started up seriously in Saudi this forum was split between been happy that there's more boxing to watch and the moral question of "is it ethical to support a country with so much blood on its hands and suppressive laws especially towards woman "
Nowadays it just seems as tho everyone's happy to lap up the boxing.
On a slightly different note, apart from the hardcores who are just happy to watch boxing I'm not sure who this market is particularly aimed at.
Let's take Saturdays night as an example.
Not really enough big uk names to drive up or even hold the subs to the uk casuals and then the headliner is a fight who uk casuals aren't bothered about or maybe don't even know who they are.
Ok I understand that there's big fees coming from the Saudis which keeps the ship afloat but long term growth I just don't see it working.

 

It annoyed me at first not on a moral level but the fact they look all style no substance and the crowd is probably mostly made up of people with money and those who have to be seen at the boxing as opposed to actual boxing fans.
The positive is that we get fights at a normal time, can't stand waiting up till 5am for the big matches in Vegas.