Simon Jordan has told Eddie Hearn that his status in boxing is under threat because of the growing influence of Turki Al-Sheikh in the sport and reckons that the Saudis could 'turn his lights out'.
The face of boxing has been completely revolutionised in the past 10 months, with Al-Sheikh bringing leading promoters like Hearn and former rivals Frank Warren and Bob Arum together in the Middle East to stage some of the biggest matchups in the sport, including Tyson Fury against Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed world heavyweight title and Anthony Joshua's showdown against former UFC star Francis Ngannou.
Next month, Joshua will take on fellow Brit Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight world title in front of a ram-packed Wembley Stadium in another event that would have not been possible to make without the financial backing of Saudi Minister Turki Al-Sheikh. The adviser to the Saudi Royal family has also pledged to transform boxing even further by reducing the number of world titles in each division as well as creating a 'super league' with the very elite in the sport that would be worth an estimated $4billion (£3billion)
In a live debate with Hearn on talkSPORT, outgoing media personality Jordan suggested that established boxing promoters could find their roles in the sport completely diminished in the future. He said: "When you replace the establishment you become the establishment. We are in a unique period, these guys are getting these fights made for them. They just turn up and that for me is not much of a skillset.
"It does make me wonder if the end goal is if the Saudis say 'what do we need these guys for? They are glorified agents, we can own the fighters.' Unless there was a bloody good reason, why would I deal
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