Ten things we learned from The Last Crescendo

1 The judges preferred the work of Dmitry Bivol this time around

Just like in October, on Saturday night we watched Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev exchange punches and rounds for 36 minutes and tried to work out who was winning before waiting for the three ringside judges to tell us. This time the three judges went for Bivol, who started slowly but finished strong, and left us no closer to knowing which of the two is the best light heavyweight in the world. Stuck now at 1-1, it seems logical that a third and deciding fight will take place at some stage, perhaps later in 2025. 

2 Every time Bivol and Beterbiev fight it will be close

As well-matched as any two boxers on the planet, Bivol and Beterbiev are not only polar opposites in terms of style and approach but will seemingly forever split opinion when they fight. Some, after all, will always have a greater appreciation for the puncher, in this case Beterbiev, while others will prefer the ability of the boxer, Bivol, to defuse the puncher and stay out of harm’s way. In other words, no matter how many times these two fight, the likelihood is that we will always get to the end of 12 rounds and find ourselves uncertain. 

3 Martin Bakole did what he was paid to do

When a fighter’s pre-fight roadwork consists solely of strolling in tight jeans from one airport terminal to another, you can be fairly sure they aren’t arriving on fight night in optimum condition. Then again, Martin Bakole never said he would be. He just agreed to show up, that’s all. He agreed his money with the Saudi Arabia financiers and then he agreed to replace Daniel Dubois and share a ring with Joseph Parker. In a sense it was a no-lose situation for the Congolese heavyweight, and yet one still can’t help but feel he did lose something when stopped in two rounds, if only because beforehand he was seen as the heavyweight division’s bogeyman; the man every heavyweight wants to avoid. That, to some extent may still be true, but what cannot be erased from people’s minds, regardless of the context, is the image of Bakole being taken apart in two rounds. 

4 Josh Padley was the real short-notice MVP

Although not given any of the fanfare or attention of Bakole, the most impressive boxer to step in during fight week was undoubtedly Josh Padley from Britain. He started the week doing his usual work as an electrician and then by the end of it was boxing Shakur Stevenson, one of America’s big stars, in a WBC lightweight title fight. Not just that, he made a good fist of it too. He came out fast, he showed no respect for Stevenson’s reputation, and he left it all in there until eventually being stopped in round nine. The defeat, Padley’s first as a pro, will of course hurt, but the Doncaster man managed to depart Saudi Arabia with both a life-changing payday and his stock increased. Better yet, he will, on the back of this, surely get similar opportunities in the future. 

5 Watching Callum Smith-Joshua Buatsi at 5.30pm was bittersweet

First of all, as far as laying down a marker, there could have been no better opening fight for The Last Crescendo than the light-heavyweight war between Callum Smith and Joshua Buatsi. In the 12 rounds the Brits shared, there was pretty much everything you could hope to see in a fight, with momentum changing constantly throughout and nary a backwards step. The only downside, in fact, was that it started at 5.30pm GMT and therefore would have been seen by only a fraction of the audience a fight like that deserved. Also, given the nature of the fight, and just how brilliant it turned out to be, it was hard not to wonder how it would have been received atop a big UK show, either in Liverpool or London, with upwards of 20,000 fans in their seats watching at 10pm. 

6 Agit Kabayel should probably be next in line

For all the talk of Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker battling it out for the right to challenge Oleksandr Usyk this summer, not much was being said about Agit Kabayel ahead of his fight against Zhilei Zhang on Saturday. However, the way in which Kabayel chopped Zhang down in five rounds should have alerted plenty to the German’s ability and impressive run of form. After all, Kabayel, in stopping Zhang in five rounds, not only bettered Joseph Parker’s result against the same opponent, but extended his run of knockout wins, which stretches now to five. Prior to beating Zhang, of course, he had stopped Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov, both of whom were unbeaten at the time. 

7 Hamzah Sheeraz is a Riyadh Season ambassador

Some may have already known that Hamzah Sheeraz is an “international ambassador” for Riyadh Season before his fight against Carlos Adames on Saturday, but not everybody. Indeed, even if privy to this information, it would have been difficult from the outside to understand what the role entails and what it does for Sheeraz’s career and reputation. And yet, based on Sheeraz’s very generous “draw” with Carlos Adames on Saturday, it is fair to say that being aligned with Riyadh Season probably has its perks. That’s not to say it could ever influence judges, but for a boxer like Sheeraz, whose shorts promoted both Riyadh Season and The Ring during the Adames fight, an alliance such as that inevitably leaves him open to scrutiny when the spotlight shines bright. 

8 Something was going round in Riyadh

Maybe it’s just that time of year, but there was something in the air in Riyadh and more than one fighter unfortunately succumbed to whatever it was. It started with Floyd Schofield going down and ending up in a hospital bed, and then Daniel Dubois was diagnosed with a viral infection on Thursday. Both fighters were subsequently withdrawn from their fights – against Stevenson and Parker respectively – and new opponents were immediately sought. Even Israil Madrimov, who boxed Virgil Ortiz, later claimed to have entered the fight an ill man, having two weeks earlier been informed by a doctor that he was not fit enough to compete. 

9 The event planners are listening

While the speed of Saturday’s show was mostly the result of there being so many bouts and so little time, we should still give credit to the organisers for ensuring it ticked along at a decent pace throughout. Gone, thankfully, were the pointless interviews with celebrities, retired boxers, and pundits, not to mention the car giveaways and live music, and in place of all that we just had wall-to-wall action. In fact, no sooner had one fight finished and the post-fight interviews had been completed than another couple of fighters were on their way to the ring. In an ideal world, it would always be like this. 

10 Seven might be too much

Greatest fight card of all time or not, one thing cannot be disputed: seven is a lot. Seven fights back-to-back, all scheduled 12-rounders, is a lot for anyone to watch, but also it is a lot to digest, understand, and fully appreciate. Which is to say, while one can sit and enjoy so many great fights in a row, can there truly be an appreciation of what is going on when the night is moving so fast and there are so many stories being told one after another? Personally, I think not. Sometimes it is better to focus on just three or four great fights and give them the attention and time they deserve. The Last Crescendo, for example, may have worked better as a two-part affair, with some of the undercard fights bumped up on account of there being fewer fighters ahead of them in the queue.