While rival British promotions are in Saudi Arabia this week, boxer Ben Shalom accepts it is inevitable his fighters will take part in lucrative shows in the Middle East.
In an interview with Boxing Social, Shalom said his business goal is to develop stars at home, but also to take them on the road once they're established.
When asked if the boxer would be coming to Saudi Arabia anytime soon, he said: “Of course. I would love to go and I have offers. Sometimes it depends on what the fighters want to do and what opportunities are available. You have to look at it from the perspective that we have young fighters. We are trying to develop future stars.”
“We don't have an Anthony Joshua or a Tyson Fury to headline those shows. We want to build those fighters. When you have guys like Adam Azim, Ben Whittaker, Lauren Price, Caroline Dubois, Callum Simpson coming on, those are our fighters. We want to make them the stars of tomorrow and we want many of them to headline.”
“A lot of them want to come home. A lot of them want to do a show and we're proud to be able to make that happen. Tasha Jonas from Liverpool; [Joshua] Buatsi, London; [Fabio] Wardley -[Frazer] Clarke gives Fraser his chance, Lauren Price comes home, Richard Liakporhe fights at the Stadium, Chris Biram-Smith too, Callum Simpson goes to Barnsley, Ben Whittaker goes to Wolverhampton. For me, British boxing needs some homecomings and some rising stars. They will be given their chance, whether it's Saudi Arabia or whatever the circumstances are at the time.
“Of course we are willing to be involved and have made offers to certain fighters, but it's up to the fighters to decide what kind of fights they want.”
Shalom is fully supportive of Saudi Arabia's involvement and sees the benefits of the former promotional rivals teaming up to stage major bouts around the world.
“It's incredible what they're doing with the sport,” Shalom added. “When I came it was a tough time because Frank and Eddie hadn't been working together for very long and that affected the sport, so I have to take my hat off to the Saudis and their willingness to put together the fights they want. Promotional barriers are not an issue. They've proven they don't pick promoters and are now doing shows with PBC in the US and they want to put together the fights they want and our fighters will be there when they want.”
“We're not involved but it's great for boxing as a whole and it makes us very happy as fans.”
