Eminem is set to perform at the Riyadh Season Card headlined by Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles, his Excellency Turki Alalshikh has revealed.
Crawford, 36, is seeking a world title in a fourth different weight division when he takes on the recently-crowned WBA light-middleweight world champion, Madrimov, at the BMO Stadium.
Slim Shady is no stranger to big boxing fights as he surprised everybody by joining the American fighters ring walk before his win over Errol Spence Jr last July,
And now he is set to hype up the crowd again for the Kingdom’s first boxing event outside of Saudi Arabia, which also features a heavyweight bout between former world champion Andy Ruiz and Jarrell Miller.
The announcement of the rappers performance was made via Alalshikh’s X (formerly Twitter) page with a simple graphic.
Legendary rapper Eminem will be a special guest performer for the Riyadh Season Card
The card is headlined by a light-middle weight title fight between Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov
Eminem accompanied Crawford for his ring walk in his last fight against Errol Spence Jr
The Saudi boxing chief is known for putting on a spectacle, just last month American rapper JID performed in style before Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four belt era.
And now he has stepped it up a notch by calling on legendary rapper Eminem to put on a show before Crawford and Madrimov take to the ring.
Boxing is not the only sport Eminem is known to perform at, he rapped alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent in the half-time show for NFL Super Bowl in 2022.
His appearance at the American fighter’s last big fight meant a lot to Crawford, he told the Rolling Stone: ‘That showed a lot of support for me, and that showed what level I’m at in the boxing world.’
While he won’t have the support of Eminem walking to the ring this time, his pre-fight performance is aiming to set the scene for the title fight.
Uzbekistani fighter, Madrimov, only has 11 fights to his name, unlike Crawford’s 40, but remains undefeated.
Saudi Boxing chief Turki Alalshikh announced the news via his X (formerly Twitter) account
Rapper JID performed moments before Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury’s historic clash
He won the belt via a fifth round stoppage of Magomed Kurbanov on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s victory over Francis Ngannou.
But he faces a huge task to keep it against Crawford who has won all of his 40 professional fights and knows what it takes to be a world champion.
The American has been an undisputed champion at both light-welterweight and welterweight, as well as once holding a lightweight world title.
Also on the card is Ruiz, who produces one of the biggest shocks in the sports history by beating Anthony Joshua five years ago.
Andy Ruiz (right) replaced Jarrell Miller to fight Anthony Joshua (left) in 2019, and beat him
He takes on the man he replaced on short notice for that fight, Miller, in what promises to be a big battle in LA.
Ruiz has only fought twice in the last four years, but will have to put his friendship with Miller aside if he wants to earn himself another title shot.
