Boxxer set to prioritize ‘massive’ UK cards after partnering with Riyadh Season

Promoter Boxxer announced Friday that they had formed a partnership with Riyadh Season, which would start with Saturday’s show at the Copper Box Arena in London.

The bill is headlined by Adam Azim versus Ohara Davies and, according to a press release, “The partnership sees Riyadh Season become official partner of all upcoming Boxxer events in the UK and Ireland with integrations into pre-promotional activity in the build-up to every show and as part of fight night.”

Boxxer, founded by Ben Shalom in 2018, has exclusivity with Sky Sports in the UK and they played a significant part in the Riyadh Season show in Saudi Arabia last weekend, with Chris Eubank, Ben Whittaker and Frazer Clarke all on the bill. Eubank was the only one to emerge victorious, and all might have headlined their own shows in the UK before the end of the year had they not all fought on the same card.

There have been plenty of murmurs of discontent over the schedule in Britain heading into the winter months, but Shalom moved to allay any concerns.

“I think people are adjusting,” said Shalom, who has another leading star, cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith boxing in Saudi Arabia next month. “Whittaker, Eubank, Frazer Clarke, would have all headlined shows of our own in Britain, and they were all on the same card. We can’t complain. We’re seeing some huge, huge fights and huge nights. [But] Saturday night [at the Copper Box] is a huge night for British boxing. I know we had a lot of noise over last week [in Riyadh], but this card on Saturday is phenomenal, Azeem-Edmondson, McKinson-Mbenge, Jeamie TKV-Franklin Ignatius, and the top of the bill [Azim-Davies].

“We’re trying to make sure now that we prioritise some massive, massive cards in the UK. I’d like to see Buatsi-Yarde land in the UK at the O2. I think that’s where it should be. It’s a London fight. I think it’s one of those fights. But, equally, what His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] and Riyadh Season have done is make it easy to make those fights.  

“Buatsi-Yarde, we’ve been trying to make since last March and it’s not happened, and that’s where the frustration lies and I think all the promoters are adjusting. His Excellency and Riyadh Season still want boxing to be big in the respective territories and still want it to be big, especially in the UK, and so I think we’ve got nothing to worry about. I think we’re gonna get the best of both worlds and I think it’s just a bit of an adjustment phase now to reconfigure what those big British shows are going to look like.”

Shalom felt that with the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch taking place on December 21, a Yarde-Buatsi fight would likely fall into early 2025, if it could be made.

Shalom, while excited to be in league with Riyadh Season, said a series of Boxxer events would be unveiled in the next two weeks.