Roll up, roll up! The boxing event in is town and nobody gives a damn who’s fighting anymore

We’ve all seen “The Greatest Showman,” right? The circus at the heart of the tale would announce itself with posters, noise and fanfare.

“Roll up, roll up! Come and see the bearded lady, the acrobats, the animals — Zac Efron! — the spectacle.” It didn’t really matter what was in the tent — the point was that something loud, strange and vaguely unbelievable was about to happen inside the fabric panels.

Advertisement

In 2026, boxing increasingly feels like it’s operating from the same P.T. Barnum playbook. The modern fight announcement rarely begins with the fighters anymore. It begins with the setting or stunt. It begins with The Event.

A ring under the Pyramids of Giza. A card planted in the middle of New York’s Times Square. A Saudi-funded festival weekend with fireworks, concerts and influencers circling the apron. The UFC’s White House extravaganza. Did we ever go to Alcatraz Prison? What happened to that geezer who wanted to bring 150,000 fans to San Francisco? My memory is fading.

It’s a clear message of: Come one, come all — there’s a show in town. And if you’re lucky, somewhere inside the tent, two people will probably have a fight.

The recent announcement of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven at the Egyptian Pyramids was a perfect example. The immediate reaction wasn’t necessarily “does this fight make sense?” or “what does it mean for the heavyweight division?” It was: “Holy s***, they’re fighting at the Pyramids.” Somehow, even my own mother saw this news and passed comment. You can subscribe to her boxing Substack here .

Advertisement

The location did the promotional heavy lifting before anyone even finished asking why a kickboxing champion was suddenly part of boxing’s heavyweight conversation. Let alone for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world. We’ll leave Mauricio Sulaiman and that balmy decision alone, for now.

The uncomfortable truth is that fewer and fewer people seem to care who’s actually fighting — and that’s perfect for the new power brokers circling the sport.

This is not to say boxing hasn’t always chased attention. Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman in Zaire under the banner of “The Rumble in the Jungle” is the obvious comparison. But that location amplified the fight, rather than replacing it. David Haye did fight inside the Playboy Mansion, but we can add that to the list of topics to ignore today.

Turki Alalshikh and the Saudi overlords now bankrolling Zuffa Boxing and Ring Magazine events have realized that in the modern attention economy, the fight itself might not be the biggest selling point. The hook is the moment. Something bizarre and memorable enough that it slices through social media and lands on millions of screens.

The Event has become the Trojan horse of sport. These jaw-dropping locations can grab the attention of the casual sports fan, force them to tune in out of curiosity and bang — suddenly boxing is on the television and in people’s homes. Not just boxing, but a boxing meal deal served with Saudi tourism promotion and geopolitical branding. Saudi Vision 2030 has been in full flow since 2016.

Advertisement

Sport — boxing especially — has been a massive factor in this strategic shift from Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Partnerships with other Arab nations — such as Egypt in the case of the Usyk vs. Rico in Giza — are playing an increasing role in this sports diplomacy strategy as they continue their pursuit of a globally washed image.

And boxing is the easiest of sports to infiltrate. There are no restrictions. Limited red tape. And with internal squabbles constantly pitting those with power at loggerheads as to how the sport is governed, gaps to infiltrate are infinite. There’s a reason why the Saudis have appeared to lose interest in the heavily governed Premier League and project-Newcastle United.

It’s also the easiest sport to understand — at entry level at least. It doesn’t take a week of reading textbooks and watching YouTube videos to deduce how a fight works and how someone may or may not win said fight. Not like my fortnight trying to understand the inner workings of curling or slopestyle at the Winter Olympics.

But the more that boxing morphs into this political and social tool for power-hungry nations, the more the fighters, increasingly, feel like the supporting cast in their own shows, and the more spurious new locations for boxing Events continue to pop up as powerful people curry favor with the Saudis.

Advertisement

That’s a dangerous direction for a sport whose credibility has always depended on something so simple. The idea that the best should fight the best should still mean something and be of utmost importance. Strip that away and what you’re left with isn’t competition — it’s entertainment. And in entertainment, the people who control the show are the ones who benefit most.

Just ask P.T. Barnum.