RIYADH — Saudi Arabia can produce its own boxing world champion as the Clash On The Dunes title fight inspires the Kingdom’s growing number of home-grown athletes to reach for their dreams.

That’s the belief of Nettles Nasser, a professional boxing trainer working with fighters in Jeddah, who says that the sport is undergoing a renaissance in Saudi Arabia, especially with World Champion Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua about to go toe to toe at the Diriyah Arena.

The Palestinian America trainer, who hails from New Jersey in the US and is currently helping up and coming boxers from Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East with his team at the JKO boxing academy, said the high profile events such as the upcoming bout on Dec. 7 in the UNESCO World Heritage site were inspiring the athletes he works with.

Nettles said: “This is historic. Who would have ever thought that this fight would happen here in Saudi Arabia? It is inspiring for the youth and it’s inspiring for me, we are talking about the Heavyweight Championship of the World...in the Kingdom.

“Right now, Madison Square Garden in New York is considered the home of boxing, but now Saudi Arabia could be a challenger. It really is amazing. I’ve been here three years and I never thought we’d see something anything on this scale.”

Nettles, 33, had his own pro fighting career cut short by injury in 1992, says the past year has been transformative for boxing in the Kingdom, a change that began In September last year when Callum Smith defeated George Groves in the World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight final, the first major boxing match to be staged by the General Sports Authority (GSA) of Saudi Arabia, the host of the Clash On The Dunes.

“The atmosphere in the boxing gyms now is like night and day,” said Nettles. “When I first came here boxing was in the dark, you could barely here a noise when people were working the bags. Now people are in the gyms and they are sparring with belief, with authority, with passion you can tell they believe they can get somewhere and achieve something.

“When they had Muhammad Ali Trophy last year we had legends like ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed and Evander Holyfield here, the crowd were going crazy running around and taking pictures with them. And now we have the World Champion fight an Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua here in the Kingdom.

“This is all unprecedented and puts boxing in a great place, it brings the sport into the light.”

One of the fighters Nettles has worked with in the Kingdom is Abdulfatah Julaidan, the 40-year-old Saudi from Jeddah, who got just his second pro fight on the undercard of the World Boxing Super Series. In front of the home crowd he was victorious and on the night he described it as a ‘dream come true’.

“If you look at people like Abdulfatah, this is a guy who has wanted to be a boxer his whole life. He’s been training for years when the sport didn’t have the same enthusiasm and now he’s coming through at his age with that fire and that intensity and winning pro fights,” said Nettles.

“If more fighters in the Kingdom can match his passion then it is just a question of time until Saudi Arabia has a world champion.

“I think everyone involved in boxing are so grateful to His Majesty the King, to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and to the GSA for opening the doors for the sport. It is such an exciting time for the grass roots level.

“The JKO team already has winning fighters from Saudi, Morocco and the Middle East region. Our mission is focusing on building a true boxing team and to give them the tools to survive in this sport. Now it feels likes the right atmosphere to bring Saudi Aarabia’s boxing game to highest level.”

On Dec. 7, Joshua will be looking to regain his WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO belts after suffering defeat to Ruiz in New York earlier this year.

Nettles believes because of their decision to fight in Saudi Arabia, both Joshua and Ruiz will enter a select group of fighters who inspire boxers in the Middle East, joining names such as Prince Naseem Hamed, Amir Khan, Mike Tyson, who became a Muslim, and of course the legendary Muhammad Ali, who also famously converted to Islam.

The pair will fight in front of some 15,000 fans in the custom-built Diriyah Arena, with thousands coming from the UK, hundreds more from the US as part of a global contingent from 65 countries traveling to Saudi for the match.

Nettles said: “This is really is putting Saudi Arabia and boxing on the map. It’s electrifying for the sport. As well as the night itself, the Clash On The Dunes will have a real legacy in the Kingdom I am sure.”

Tickets for all of Diriyah Season’s spectacular events, concerts and entertainment will be available at www.diriyahseason.sa. —SG