Frank Warren has had his say on two of the huge upcoming bouts this Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Warren has by far the best stable of heavyweights in the current boxing landscape; so much so that he announced an all-heavyweight show on April 26. Before then, two of his big men will face each other this Saturday.
Hard-hitting Zhilei Zhang will take on the high pressure Agit Kabayel over 12 rounds at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Zhang, coming off a devastating victory over Deontay WIlder, and Kabayel, now a serious player in the heavyweight division after two big wins against Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov, will collide for the WBC interim title. Promoter of both, Warren, is struggling to pick a winner.
“It’s a tough fight; I mean that is a real tough fight,” Warren told BoxingsScene. “They’re both with us, but they’re tough fights, quality fights. It’s an unbelievably good fight between the two of them. I don’t know [who wins]. You toss a coin for that one. I mean, every fight on there is a 50-50 fight.”
One contest for which Warren will be a neutral is the clash between light heavyweight contenders Buatsi and Smith. Buatsi is coming off a win over Warren’s fighter Willy Hutchinson, while Smith suffered a knockout defeat to Artur Beterbiev – who will headline the card in a rematch against Dmitry Bivol – in January 2024, but has since had a run out against Carlos Galavan in November. Smith has struggled with inactivity in recent times; boxing only four times in the last five years.
“Very close fight,” said Warren. “I’ll lean towards Josh [Buatsi], but you know Callum [Smith] doesn’t come to make up the numbers.
“It’s a good, quality fight. I’ll go for Josh. Josh has been more active, so I’ll lean towards him.”
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