Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions are rumored to announce a huge heavyweight bill today to kick off their DAZN schedule.
Queensberry are set to announce their schedule with new broadcasting partner DAZN. Queensberry shows will be broadcast on DAZN from April and Warren is rumored to be kicking off the schedule with a ban. The proposed all-heavyweight card is believed to take place on April 5 at the Co-op Live Arena and could feature a domestic dustup between Dillian Whyte and Joe Joyce. Whyte has been on the comeback trail since returning from his PEDs ban and Joyce coming off a loss to Derek Chisora back in July.
Another bout rumored to be lined up is a clash between former cruiserweights Lawrence Okolie and Richard Riakporhe up at heavyweight. Okolie, a one-time cruiserweight and bridgerweight champion, impressed on his debut in the blue ribbon division back in December – a first round stoppage over Hussein Muhamed.
This would be Riakporhe’s first contest at heavyweight. His last was a failed attempt at claiming the WBO cruiserweight title against then-champion Chris Billam-Smith, who claimed the WBO belt from Okolie in 2023.
Okolie spoke to BoxingScene about the rumors surrounding a fight between him and Riakporhe.
“I’m definitely having a fight [announced on Monday],” Okolie said. “If it’s Richard [Riakphore], I still don’t know. They told me three names. I said, ‘Any one of them, I’m here for it,’ so we’ll see.”
As well as the two domestic battles, rising heavyweight star Moses Itauma is also rumored to feature against former IBF champion Charles Martin. Itauma’s promoter, Warren, has previously said he is open to matching the youngster with Martin.
When asked about the rumored heavyweight card on April 5 by BoxingScene, the Hall of Fame promoter jokingly replied: “That sounds like a good card, doesn’t it? I’d buy a ticket and go and see that myself.
“We’ll see,” he added. “We’re making an announcement on all our shows that will be coming up on DAZN, when we start our shows on there, which will be starting in April. We’ve got a number of shows that we’ll be announcing next week, so you’ll see. But I will tell you that there’ll be really good quality fights from all around the country.”
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