In the lead-up to the August 3rd boxing event headlined by the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov junior middleweight title fight, Saudi Arabia's influential boxing figure, Turki Alalshikh, proudly announced that the show had sold out. However, this announcement comes with a significant caveat.
Documents from the Department of Consumer Affairs and the California State Athletic Commission, reviewed by BoxingScene, reveal that nearly 4,000 of the 21,799 seats at the event were given away for free. A total of 3,935 tickets were categorized as “exempt,” indicating that 18.1 percent of the available seats were filled without any purchases. Notably, the highest-priced tickets, valued at $500 each, were among those most frequently given away, with over 32 percent of those seats distributed at no cost.
A seasoned ticket broker familiar with the industry, who wished to remain anonymous, explained that it’s common practice for fight organizers to "paper" an event by distributing free tickets to boost attendance and create the appearance of a sellout. However, the source pointed out that when the number of free tickets approaches 20 percent of the venue’s capacity, it’s considered "heavily papering" an event, raising questions about the true success of the show.
Despite the generous distribution of complimentary tickets, the event itself was well-received by many in attendance. Terence Crawford secured a significant, if sometimes slow-paced, victory, while upsets by Jose Valenzuela and Martin Bakole added unexpected drama to the night. However, the financial results have cast a shadow on Alalshikh's tactics and the sustainability of such high-profile boxing supercards, especially those organized under the Riyadh Season banner.
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