Why Saudi Arabia's first women's world title fight matters

Saudi Arabia has played big to immoderate of the biggest boxing events implicit the past 12 months, and connected Saturday – for the archetypal clip – the Kingdom volition big a women's satellite rubric fight.

Australia's Skye Nicolson volition support her WBC featherweight rubric against Briton Raven Chapman, connected the undercard of Artur Beterbiev v Dmitry Bivol, successful Riyadh.

"This is simply a much-needed and large changeable successful the limb for women's boxing arsenic it joins the Riyadh Season bid which is moving to a greater destination for boxing," promoter Eddie Hearn tells BBC Sport.

The combat happens against the backdrop of a federation continually criticised by quality rights organisations, peculiarly astir its treatment of women and number groups.

With Saudi Arabia's increasing concern and power successful boxing, Britain's existent and aboriginal harvest of stars – including Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Moses Itauma and Hamzah Sheeraz - person travelled to the resources-rich federation to vie successful lucrative bouts implicit the past year.

However, pistillate boxers person not featured connected 7 'Riyadh Season' cards - 5 held successful Saudi, 1 successful Los Angeles and 1 successful London.

Londoner Ramla Ali competed successful the archetypal women's bout successful Jeddah successful 2022 and Claressa Shields fought successful an MMA bout successful Riyadh successful February.

Nicolson, who volition gain a career-high wage day, says she is excited to beryllium "a portion of this women's movement" successful Saudi.

So wherefore has it taken until now?

Hearn says this is the archetypal clip helium and different promoters person enactment guardant a women's combat to the Saudi organisers, who are led by Turki Alalshikh, the president of Saudi Arabia's wide amusement authority.

"They wanted that archetypal pistillate combat to beryllium successful Riyadh, not successful Wembley oregon Los Angeles due to the fact that that happens each the time," Matchroom brag Hearn says.

"[Alalshikh] is simply a precise knowledgeable boxing instrumentality and determination are immoderate fights which whitethorn instrumentality precedence implicit different fights, it doesn't substance if it's a pistillate oregon male."

While Saudi has made important societal reforms successful caller years - successful 2018 it changed the instrumentality to let women to thrust and to be shot matches – critics says its concern successful boxing is to deflect attraction from contention implicit its quality rights record, a signifier known arsenic 'sportswashing'.

Nicolson, however, had nary reservations to warring connected the paper and hopes to usage her level to beforehand opportunities for women successful Saudi.

"They're trying to westernise the civilization portion keeping it respectful. But they bash privation to determination with the times and the Western world. I deliberation this is simply a large portion of that movement," she says.

"I'm successful specified an empowering presumption to animate women who volition beryllium astatine the show, women successful Saudi Arabia who volition deliberation 'that tin beryllium me, I tin combat oregon I tin bash what I'm passionate about'."

Earlier successful combat week, Nicolson met young pistillate boxers successful Riyadh.

In 2019, Rasha Al Khamis became the Saudi's archetypal certified pistillate boxing coach, and she is present vice-president of the Saudi Boxing Federation, tasked with starring the complaint to rise a procreation of pistillate boxers successful the region.

However, quality rights organisation Amnesty International says since 2022 erstwhile Ali fought, terrible restrictions connected women person remained.

"For each the apt speech astir however this combat mightiness amusement that Saudi Arabia is 'opening up' and 'changing', we should carnivore successful caput that Saudi quality rights activists who telephone for greater women’s rights hazard contiguous arrest, torture and a agelong jailhouse sentence," Amnesty International's Felix Jakens said.

The bout featuring Nicolson and Chapman volition instrumentality spot aboriginal successful the evening connected a paper featuring Briton Chris Eubank Jr, a satellite rubric combat betwixt Jai Opetaia and Jack Massey and the British heavyweight rubric contention betwixt Frazer Clarke and Fabio Wardley.

Yet this is reflective of pistillate boxing arsenic a whole. In the United Kingdom, the bulk of world-title pistillate fights are not guaranteed main lawsuit status.

"It's precise hard to marque definite you tin spot them each and springiness them each opportunities," Hearn says.

"A batch of those pistillate fights don't adhd important value, but immoderate antheral fights don't adhd important worth either."

When respective injuries to headliners bumped the Rhiannon Dixon v Terri Harper combat to apical of the measure past month, it was rescheduled from an arena to a tiny hallway amusement successful Sheffield successful beforehand of nether 2,000 fans.

"There has been a spot of a lull [in women's boxing]. It's astir apt been since the Riyadh Season cards person benignant of taken over," Nicolson says.

Hearn's optimism for the aboriginal of women's boxing relies heavy connected the Saudi involvement, with Nicolson doubling her erstwhile biggest purse to date, though Irish superstar Katie Taylor is acceptable to gain a reported career-best $6m (£4.6m) for her combat with Amanda Serrano successful Texas adjacent month.

"Win, suffer oregon draw, Skye and Raven volition travel retired of this with a overmuch bigger illustration to determination guardant and they'll beryllium a bigger attraction," Hearn adds.

As for the future, Hearn has identified Sandy Ryan v Chantelle Cameron oregon Caroline Dubois v Terri Harper arsenic imaginable fights which could beryllium hosted successful the Kingdom, and believes pound-for-pound prima Taylor whitethorn adjacent vie successful the Middle East earlier retiring.