Not a dig at you as you are a decent poster and we're all entitled to say what we think, if Joshua wanted a superyacht maybe he should do more than fight than twice a year and post pics of him grinning in Dubai. Give the fans what they want, they're the ones that make this a spectator sport and not just a fight in a car park. The vast majority of Joshua and Fury fans are in the UK, 0.0001% of their fanbase are in Saudi Arabia.
This is all very well but not very realistic , money talks in every single walk of life. Maybe the hotels , restaurants, pubs ,bars etc should club together and bid to stage the fight if the local economy is that high of a priority ! I went to the last Joshua fight at Wembley and believe me the businesses you mentioned were certainly out to make a killing that day to the point of it being embarrassing. Even my hotel room was 3 x its normal price. Its an entertainment business , put on a show and extract as much money as is possible then distribute between all the contributors. I would never go to Wembley to watch boxing again but I'm sure they'd be 90k people who would but only if it makes financial sense to the people involved, but of course I would rather it was at Wembley than Saudi.
I get what you were saying in your post and don't disagree with most of it but do you really think they looked entertained in Saudi Arabia when Smith beat groves and AJ beat Ruiz jnr? There is a point where money has done enough talking and the product itself starts to get damaged, this is that point.
Do you think the ‘product was damaged’ when Ali was fighting in brutal dictatorships in the seventies for money which was in turn stumped up by brutal dictatorships? I’d rather the fight was in the UK, but I don’t think boxing becomes damaged in any major way if at all if Joshua and Fury take the loot.
Neither Fury or Joshua have boxed in the UK since 2018 and their ‘brands’ and purses have never been bigger. I was adamant they would fight each other at Wembley Stadium but hearing the proposed numbers are allegedly x 3 bigger in Saudi I don’t see it now.
Smith vs Groves and AJ vs Ruiz Jnr were damaged products in my opinion, shocking atmosphere watched by a half @rsed crowd, an all British title fight and a top heavyweight fight with a British fighter looking to avenge his defeat and get his 4 belts back, shouldn't have been over there.As for Ali, I have to say that it bothers me that he was taking the money and fighting in those places, it just doesn't sit well with me at all, it's wrong, that product was damaged too.
An insider tells me the staff all hold hands and sing this at Matchroom HQ before the commencement of the working day. From Essex so young To London City they'd come Seeking fortune and New Sky Contract How could they all know Their ambitions would grow Such a beautiful story And here's how it goes Eh Day had a dream To start a boxthing team He had some money, fighters and a new Sky contract He carried on Anthony Joshua was born 22 puddings, he's still going strong So hoist up your Matchroom flags Sing with your heart and voice Celebrate the greatest PPV in the world Let the history show What we already know Matchroom FC The greatest of all
But those 'damaged products' became absolutely iconic moments which transcended sport. One became arguably THE biggest moment in sport of all time. I think these events will be remembered by what happens in them. If the fight is a typically Fury stinker with Tyson winning narrowly on a horrible five punches a round performance people will recall it as a money grab in a dodgy (to put it mildly) country. That may very well have been the case had Foreman gone out and splattered Ali in a couple of rounds. If it's a thriller though? Who knows.
This weekends events for the Grand Prix showing exactly my issues with the Sportswashing. Drivers basically been told, you race or you dont get you passports back. Lovely stuff