Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren has said that Saudi Arabia has taken over from Las Vegas as the capital of boxing.
Warren was celebrating seeing his five boxers defeat all five Matchroom opponents in the big show at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh last night, and said that with the dates announced for Artur Beterbiev-Dmitrii Bivol (October 12) and Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II (December 21), Saudi Arabia is boxing’s new HQ.
“It’s been amazing,” said Warren. “The vision… The fact that Riyadh Season has made boxing one of its top attractions, and it’s worked, in a big way for them, the commitment has made it the world capital now for big shows. They’ve taken over from Vegas. There’s no doubt about that. And it’s just going to get bigger and better and better.
“I’ve been around for nearly 200 years doing this,” Warren joked, “and every time I sit with His Excellency and we talk about all these things and future fights, it just gets more and more amazing. I thought I’d heard it all. But I haven’t.”
Warren said a press conference in London later this month would possibly reveal the expected September 20/21 line up at Wembley Stadium, and a show that could be topped by Anthony Joshua versus Daniel Dubois, after Dubois defeated Croat Filip Hrgovic last night.
“There’s a lot of things in the pipeline that I think will blow everybody’s mind,” Warren added.
Then, having won via clean sweep, he paid tribute to fellow promoter Eddie Hearn and said of the show last night: “It’s fabulous. And I’ve got to tell you something, this wouldn’t have happened without Eddie and Matchroom. We’ve all worked together for the betterment of boxing this time round. It’s worked for everybody. As far as putting the fights together, TV companies, all under the auspices of Riyadh Season and His Excellency who banged everybody’s heads together to make this work, it’s been fabulous. What a night for boxing.”
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