Boxxer’s Ben Shalom has revealed the sense of “responsibility” he feels towards the British fight scene.
If 2024 was the year in which investment from Saudi Arabia delivered several of the world’s most sought-after fights, it was also the year in which other fight territories became neglected as a consequence.
Boxxer and their broadcaster Sky Sports had a promising start to 2024 that featured the exciting first fight between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke, but the premiums being paid meant that their rematch was among several other high-profile contests that instead took place on undercards in Riyadh.
On February 22, on the undercard of the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, also in Riyadh, Britain’s two leading light heavyweights – Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith – have been matched together in a fight that would also perhaps be of greater value to a British audience.
However Shalom, whose influence in Saudi Arabia is surpassed by Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn, his domestic rivals, has already in 2025 overseen fights involving the promising Callum Simpson and Caroline Dubois and announced Natasha Jonas-Lauren Price in an all-women’s world-title fight in March and also April’s grudge match between Chris Eubank Jnr and Conor Benn.
Where in 2024 he insists that he and his competitors were “adjusting to the new world” in which those in Saudi Arabia were increasingly dictating the agenda, in 2025 – and on Saturday he is promoting Adam Azim-Sergey Lipinets – Shalom is determined to ensure that Britain again has a fight scene that is among the strongest in the world.
“The sport needs to – and Sky Sports, who have held the British sport together and probably are responsible for why British boxing is so successful – there’s a responsibility on us to make sure British boxing is strong, and I think that’s where we feel most responsible for it,” he told BoxingScene. “Especially the back end of the year, Ben Whittaker; [Chris] Eubank Jnr; Frazer Clarke… all were gonna headline UK shows, and all ended up on a Riyadh Season show. Joshua Buatsi as well.
“We lost a lot of planned shows, and that was us adjusting to the new world. It’s a fantastic world, and it can be amazing, and I know that His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] and Riyadh Season want British boxing to fly, because it creates so much noise for them. Now it’s about getting the balance right. We want to have a really strong British boxing schedule, and we think we have the stars coming through to do that. That’s definitely the focus for the year.”
On the undercard of Jonas-Price at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall, Dubois will defend her WBC lightweight title, and Savannah Marshall and Francesca Hennessy will also fight against opponents to be confirmed, demonstrating again the value of women’s boxing – largely overlooked in Saudi Arabia – to Boxxer and Sky Sports.
“What we have to remember is in 2022, 2023, women’s boxing almost had us – British boxing – on a life-support machine,” Shalom continued. “There was so much controversy with things that were going on – loads of craziness – and they were consistently delivering. Consistently delivering, and consistently shining a good light on our sport. Look at the viewing figures on Sky Sports – there’s not many sports where the viewing figures can compete with the men, and they truly do.
“It’s about getting the right fights, and the right styles. We all have to hold our hands up and say that it hasn’t had as great a year as it did the year before. But that’s something we’re very, very committed to changing and that started on December 14 [when Jonas and Price won separate world-title fights].
“They’ve got to see the opportunity, which is take that void; take that gap; be the big nights over here. Of course, I still think there’ll be opportunities in Riyadh and Saudi Arabia, but ultimately, Sky Sports are massively, massively passionate about women’s sport, and that’s where I think we’re going to see the most success and that gives us a huge responsibility at Boxxer to make sure that women’s boxing gets back to where it was and where we helped to get it to.
“The plans that I can see around Lauren, around Caroline, around Fran, and Savannah Marshall and Natasha Jonas – Cindy [Ngamba] – there’s gonna be some big nights.”
