Saudi billionaire Turki Alalshikh jibes at Gervonta Davis’ paychecks: “Natural reaction from him”

WBA lightweight champ Gervonta Davis slams Terence Crawford and boxing chief Turki Alalshikh ahead of Lamont Roach clash; gets a reply.

Saudi billionaire Turki Alalshikh jibes at Gervonta Davis’ paychecks: “Natural reaction from him”

Gervonta Davis rips into Terence Crawford and Turki Alalshikh before Lamont Roach matchup (Source: X/IMAGO)

Gervonta Davis makes his ring return tonight after nine months on the sidelines. “Tank” makes a defense against 130-pound foe Lamont Roach in the main event at the Barclays Center. It’s where the boxer won his first title, in Brooklyn. Yet, Davis has other concerns riling him up – namely, Terence Crawford and Turki Alalshikh,

Davis previously appeared in open workouts and media availability. While not the best of pals lately, he claimed that Terence Crawford direly needed some dough. Hence, he’s now latched on the Saudi GEA four-fight deal and is fighting Canelo Alvarez.

Davis also went off that it’s suspicious (H/T: ES News) that Terence Crawford has been looking buff all these years despite his struggle at 154. The boxer later also went off on Turki Alalshikh cheating and overplaying his influence; now he has an answer:

I don’t blame Tank Davis for anything that he says, he doesn’t know me and If i put myself in his position: if he sees Crawford making in two fights more with 5 times than all what Tank made in his career. This is a natural reaction from him…We will let him keep talking and we will continue making great cards and Crawford will continue thinking how he will spend his money.

Turki Alalshikh said; via Ring Magazine on X (@ringmagazine)

Crawford is now at super-middleweight (168) and too big to make match-ups against lightweights anyway. It’s one area where the beef stems from. He billed “Bud” is on ‘SNAC’ PEDs; SNAC, by highly controversial fight nutritionist Victor Conte, is the go-to conditioning PED for boxers.

The beef with Turki Alalshikh is an old one. The Saudi GEA chairman and boxing chief is singlehandedly responsible for being boxing’s saving grace. Alalshikh and the extended Riyadh Season Boxing cards are a regal affair, hosting many pay-per-view money fights. He wanted Gervonta Davis to be part of many such pairings. But Tank has reluctantly veered clear without more incentives.

He also nitpicked Lamont Roach (25-1-1 stat total; 10 from the super featherweight weight class). It was a very odd move, to say the least. This has currently left out main names like Andy Cruz, Edwin De Los Santos, Shakur Stevenson, Raymond Muratalla, Keyshawn Davis, and Abdullah Mason.

Gervonta Davis’ beef with the duo is a complex layer

The likes of Terence Crawford and Gervonta “Tank” Davis have both made a great living as fighters. So, it was no wonder that their names would cross and clash. However, their war has strictly been a media war instead of a ring battle. It all began with the issue of who made more money. But then, it soon shifted to their fighting worth.

Gervonta Davis has old beef with Terence Crawford and His Excellency
Gervonta Davis has old beef with Terence Crawford and His Excellency (Source: X)

Davis started a down and dirty tirade on social media, insulting Turki Alalshikh. The Saudi GEA boxing powerbroker bought and revived Ring Magazine. The WBA light heavyweight titlist appeared to be angry at not being invited to Ring Magazine’s annual awards. The London event at the Old Royal Naval College had big names in attendance. HW king Oleksandr Usyk, Lennox Lewis, “Saul” Alvarez, even Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney.

Davis has since deleted most of the posts. Crawford, who was there tuning for a mega-fight, called him out on it. Davis replied with a series of vitriolic allegations, including a now-deleted post about Crawford’s wife.

ESPN’s Mike Coppinger puts forward “Bud” reportedly earning more. This has been punctuated mostly on the strength of his PPV worth in battles vs. Errol Spence Jr. in 2023 and Israil Madrimov. However, he did have an array of challenges against Madrimov. Davis is a phenom but touts one massive PPV event. It happened to be a TKO win over the viral Garcia in April 2023.

“Tank” told ESPN’s First Take that he plans to make two or three more fights after Lamont Roach. If those happen to be blockbuster scrappers against big names, Davis might just overtake his worth.

Related: Best boxing fights of 2023: 10 times fans were in SHOCK with the action in the ring