Saudi Arabia has become a hotbed of boxing as of late, and it has nothing to do with any boxers who are from the Kingdom. The Muslim-majority nation’s newly prominent role in the sport has been through the work of Turki Al-Sheikh, the chairman of Saudi’s General Entertainment Authority and the man behind the Riyadh Season and Zuffa Boxing promotional entities that have put together some of the biggest fight cards in recent memory. Al-Sheikh’s next showcase will be the November 22nd “Night of Champions” card in Riyadh that includes WBC light-heavyweight champion David Benavidez, unified super-flyweight champ Bam Rodriguez, and WBO welterweight champ Brian Norman Jr.

From November 5th through the 10th, Saudi Arabia was the site of the boxing competition for the 6th Islamic Solidarity Games — think of the Olympics, but most of the participants are Muslim-majority countries — which was held at the Promenade Art Tower in Riyadh.

A total of 69 male and female boxers representing 17 nations competed in 10 weight classes (five for the men, five for the women). The host nation had the most fighters in the field with nine total, and while they came away with four bronze medals, none of the Saudis won gold.

Uzbekistan, which dominated men’s boxing at the 2024 Olympics, tied with Turkey for the second-most boxers at these Islamic Solidarity Games with eight apiece. The Uzbekistani men won five of the seven available Olympic gold medals in Paris last year; in Riyadh, the Central Asian nation took two men’s gold medals and one on the women’s side, tying with Turkey for the most gold medals (three apiece). Uzbekistan, Turkey, and Azerbaijan had a three-way tie for the most total boxing medals with six apiece.

Madiyar Daniyarov (men’s 60kg), Abdulloh Madaminov (men’s 65kg), and Khumoranobu Mamajonova (women’s 57kg) were the Uzbekistani gold medalists at the Islamic Solidarity Games. Turkey’s three golds were all from the women’s competition: Rabia Topuz (51kg), Aysen Taskin (54kg), and Evin Erginoguz (60kg).

The unofficial “heavyweights” at the 2025 ISG were more like light-heavyweights, as the men’s 80-kilogram division (176 pounds) was the biggest on the board. Saidjamshid Jafarov of Azerbaijan won the gold medal at 80kg, his second major-competition medal of the year after he claimed bronze in the 75kg division at the World Boxing Championships in September. You can even score another half-point here for Uzbekistan, as Jafarov is originally from Uzbekistan and represented his native country as recently as 2023, when he earned a 71kg silver medal at the world championships.

Other gold medalists included Amir Kelany of Egypt (men’s 55kg), Zeyad Ishaish of Jordan (men’s 70kg), and Ichrak Chaib of Algeria (women’s 65kg).