The promotion reportedly being built for February 22 is “by far the best” overseen by Riyadh Season, according to two of the world’s most respected pundits.
The rematch between light heavyweights Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol reportedly will be supported in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by the IBF heavyweight title fight between the champion Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker, and further similarly appealing contests between Jaron Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jnr, Zhilei Zhang and Agit Kabayel, Hamzah Sheeraz and Carlos Adames, and potentially Shakur Stevenson and Floyd Schofield.
The first fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, in May, was supported by a fine undercard. There was also significant investment in the undercards of Fury-Francis Ngannou and, respectively in Los Angeles and London yet also of Riyadh Season, Israil Madrimov-Terence Crawford and Dubois-Anthony Joshua.
For perhaps the first time, however, if the February 22 promotion is shaped as expected, then one of the most appealing fights that can be made in any weight division – Beterbiev-Bivol II – will be supported by further fights capable of being popular and entertaining main events. One of them, Ennis-Ortiz Jnr, is the profile of contest that could headline in a casino in Las Vegas, and would be one of the most sought-after fights of 2025.
“It’s by far the best Riyadh card, on paper, that’s been put together,” the retired Chris Algieri told BoxingScene’s Top Stories. “I love this card from top to bottom. The main event is a very important fight for the weight class; for the division; for the pound-for-pound rankings, so the level of that main event is humungous.
“Then you’ve got a couple of other bangers on there that can really steal the show, in terms of being action packed. Joseph Parker definitely deserves his shot – he’s getting it against Daniel Dubois. I don’t know if Dubois is the favourite in that fight – Parker, in recent form, has looked tremendous. Very, very smart; very, very tricky; fantastic gas tank, and very, very hard to deal with. Dubois, we’ve seen get frustrated in the past, could succumb. I wouldn’t completely say that’s a Daniel Dubois win, for sure.
“Then you’ve got Zhilei Zhang, who’s been one of the most exciting heavyweights in recent years, fighting Agit [Kabayel]. That guy can fight – I don’t know how much he has at the highest level. I’ve been impressed with him lately, but that’s a massive test for him, fighting Zhilei Zhang.
“The Sheeraz-Adames fight – that’s a phenomenal match-up. I really tip my hat to Team Sheeraz for jumping into such a tough fight so early – fighting one of the tougher champions of the weight class.
“Vergil and Ennis – how do you not love that one? That’s a bonafide show stealer. Then sprinkle in a little Shakur Stevenson and Schofield – a little bad blood – why not? From top to bottom, this card has everything that you can look for.”
Algieri and Paulie Malignaggi – colleagues at ProBox TV and columnists for BoxingScene – have also been recruited for their expertise as pundits and commentators on other platforms, and though Malignaggi has occasionally been considered a contrarian, he shared Algieri’s enthusiasm.
“A lot of these fights – if not all of them – could have been a main event on another card,” said Malignaggi, like Algieri a retired world champion. “We’ve seen big fight cards with worse main events than some of the fights on this card that aren’t main events.
“Ennis and Vergil Ortiz was something that was being talked about back when Vergil was at welterweight, so this comes full circle, with Ennis now moving up to the 154lbs division and going up to fight Vergil at the next weight class up. That has ‘barnburner’ written all over it – especially when you consider some of the defensive deficiencies we’ve talked about Ennis having. Vergil, as offensively explosive as he’s been, got dropped twice by [Serhii] Bohachuk, so he’s not exactly Pernell Whittaker himself.
“Two very explosive, offensive fighters, who’ve shown a little bit of defensive liabilities. It’s an explosive, explosive fight.
“The main event is not your typical explosive fight. It’s probably another real, tough chess match. If Beterbiev can make Bivol break at any little bit, the way most of his opponents break, and Bivol starts losing positioning because he can’t have the mental concentration, that fight opens up as well.
“That fight didn’t open up the first time ‘cause neither guy was in breaking position. It was a very disciplined fight at the highest level. That was a very, very high IQ fight – I don’t know if words can even explain it. I can’t guarantee it’ll happen again, but it could, because neither was convinced that they couldn’t have won first time around. You have a great fight there.
“Dubois’ becoming one of the most exciting fighters in the weight class. That makes it fun. Parker is tricky, and one thing – is Dubois’ youthful exuberance going to overtake the craftiness of Parker? That’s the one thing I wonder about with Parker.
“This is a really, really good card from top to bottom. You don’t want to miss any of these fights.”
If there has previously existed little criticism of the quality of the Riyadh Season promotions overseen by the General Entertainment Authority, there regardless has been questions surrounding their motives, and the disappointing atmospheres so far seen and heard at the Kingdom Arena.
“It’s going to be sparse,” Algieri continued. “This is what these cards are. But it’s fine – the fights are so good – we’ve had other cards there that did not have crazy crowd support. But it’s okay – they’re good fights.
“I like seeing good fights. I want to see the best guys in the world fight each other. If it has to be in an area like that – where there’s no drinking; there’s no booze; there’s no real crowd support – it’s fine. When I fought Manny Pacquiao in Macau [in 2014], the crowd sat on their hands. It’s just a different culture, and I don’t think we should knock any of these cards, or any of these match-ups, because they don’t have that crazy background atmosphere.
“Does it affect the fight? Sure. Does it affect the moment and what it feels like to be there? Absolutely. But this is a sport, and these guys should be able to fight in a closet and still perform. Yeah, it’s gonna be quiet, but the fights are good.”
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