Turki Alalshikh and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman are planning big changes in boxing next year, and they’re not holding back. Calling it the “World Championship of Sport”, they introduced the WBC Boxing Grand Prix, a tournament designed to bring the old dream into the modern ring.
“It was a dream from the 60s, a dream for a great man, he passed away and he doesn’t see that dream. But thank God, his son Mauricio Sulaiman is still here and we will help him achieve this dream,” Alalshik said, unsettling Suleiman’s big revelation.
Sulaiman took over: “Together we created the season in Riyadh, the WBC Boxing Grand Prix. It’s basically a dream my father had. My father passed away dreaming of becoming a World Champion in sports… Today I am thankful, grateful and very delighted that this dream – thanks to the great support (of Alalshik) and the passion for boxing – has become a reality.”
This isn’t just a few fighters knocking on the gloves. “It will be four weight classes,” Suleiman said, and will feature “innovative rules…with a review system, with a new scoring system…and a 30-second warning to make it more attractive at the end of the round.” Talk about mixing tradition with fresh spices.
And the scope of this is huge: “It will be 128 fighters, no more than 26 years old, no more than 10-12 fights,” Suleiman explained. They will fight through the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the “grand final” in Riyadh.
In short, they aim to give boxing fans a huge, youthful tournament that honors the past, celebrates the present and welcomes a new generation to the ring — all under a truly global spotlight.