ProBox CEO and co-founder Garry Jonas isn’t worried about Turki Alalshikh’s boxing ventures, dismissing him as a potential competitor.
"I don’t care at all about what this guy is doing. He’s just burning time. He won’t be around forever because sooner or later, the Saudi government will ask, ‘Why are we spending so much money on sports? Why did we suddenly start financing it?’
He has no path to profitability. His approach is just enjoying the money. He’s not doing anything to improve the sport. He has no real understanding of what he’s doing. His ideas are impulsive and childish, and everyone around him just nods along.
There are two organizations he hasn’t taken over yet. One is relatively small but growing. The other is big but sometimes looks like it’s on the verge of collapse. That’s PBC and ProBox TV.
He took over the UK without resistance. Eddie and Frank—it’s their choice, their decision. They want to sell out and hand him the sport? Fine. Personally, I don’t buy into it. I think they’re just taking his money because they know he’ll self-destruct eventually. That’s their strategy, and it’s obvious. But the Americans weren’t so easy to roll over.
Even he admitted there’s a problem. There’s this small company, ProBox TV, that seems to be operating smartly and growing. And if he wipes out all the major promoters along with their top fighters but overlooks this rising little player, what will he do then?
Who are we hurting? Whose interests are we interfering with? That’s why I understand what he’s doing. He sees what I’m doing, and I see what he’s doing. And I have people from his own camp admitting that he wants to crush ProBox TV, Boxing Scene, and Garry Jonas.
At first, I thought, ‘Seriously? Me? Why? I’m nobody.’ But he wants a monopoly. He’s just flooding everyone with money until he gets what he wants," Jonas said.