Whichever promoter, media outlet or punter is telling you, the hype is along the same lines – “This is the greatest fight card ever put together” and one “not to be missed”.
The Don King or Bob Arum extravaganzas of the 1980’s and 90’s may hold this honour, and certainly for the last century, but this is definitely the best we’ve witnessed in the new millennium.
Top to toe it’s a seven fight card to savour, with world sanctioning body title fights and eliminators abound and almost all ‘pick ’em’ fights. Just run through the above.
So, tomorrow (22 Feb) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia the ‘Last Crescendo’ happens and it should be sumptuous.
Two fights have fallen by the wayside in fight week.
First, world title contender Floyd Schofield mysteriously withdrew citing illness and WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson will defend his title against Briton Josh Padley. Then yesterday, IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois succumbed to a virus and his original opponent Joseph Parker will now face Martin Bakole in an international contest. This weakens the card somewhat, but it’s still a cracker !
Top billing is the much anticipated rematch of elite Russian boxers Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and Dimitry Bivol (23-1, 11 KOs) for The Ring magazine and undisputed light-heavyweight championship of the world.
Last October’s first encounter was one of the top fights of 2024. Again, all 12st, 7lbs (175lbs) world belts will be up for grabs in a battle for ultimate supremacy.
The, now 40 year old Beterbiev, won the first match by majority decision (114-114, 115-113 and 116-112) after twelve intense rounds of top quality boxing action.
The debate still rages among some observers who really won. To us Bivol seemed to lose it down the stretch after making a promising start. We considered Beterbiev edged the championship rounds (10-12).
It was such a spectacle and good fight, along with differing views on the victor, that the rematch was apparently agreed within 24 hours of the final bell and decision.
The man from the former Soviet province of Dagestan, although losing his 100% KO record, became the first undisputed champion since Michael Spinks back in 1983 when the division was arguably at its most hot. We’re almost at those same levels again for this blue riband and original boxing weight category.
The bearded Beterbiev holds stand out victories over Britons Callum Johnson, Smith and Anthony Yarde, stopping them all inside the distance. He has been dropped, but he’s done the stopping in the end !
He’s an intimidating character inside the ring with a confident calmness outside of it. In boxing exile, fighting out of Montreal, Canada, he is excellently trained by Canadian Marc Ramsay, one of the best in the sport.
Going into the first fight Beterbiev sustained a number of injuries and had his knee reconstructed in the process. This did not have any detrimental effect in that contest but could still be a telling factor in the rematch.
Bivol, 34, is of mixed Russian/Korean heritage from the province of Kyrgyzstan. He, like his opponent, had an excellent Soviet amateur schooling, but is not as decorated as Beterbiev – a world champion and London 2012 Olympic medalist.
The tall, orthodox Bivol does though hold a points victory over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, one of the modern greats.
He lost his undefeated record and WBA title to Beterbiev last time out after 12 successful defences. His win over ‘Canelo’ in May 2022 finally elevated him into the ‘Superfight’ category and won him The Ring 2022 Fighter of the Year.
Bivol is an excellent boxer and the more stylish of the two. He tends to box at range and probe to victory before unleashing his heavy artillery. Beterbiev, by contrast is equally talented, but likes to get amongst it by smothering his opponent with his work rate and power punches. Fighting him is likened to fighting someone in a phone booth and this was illustrated in their first match.
The big questions as we approach the opening bell are; 1) Will this be repeat, or revenge ? 2) Will the injury record and ‘Father Time’ finally catch up with Beterbiev ? 3) Can Bivol take Beterbiev’s power again, and 4) Has Bivol learnt from the first fight enough to box his way to victory.
We could go through each contest in turn with an argument for each fighter being victorious, such is that they are so evenly matched, however we will relent and just cautiously predict the winner and outcome. Here goes;
Bivol win on points, Parker on points, Stevenson by KO, Sheeraz on points, Ortiz Jr. by TKO, Zhang by KO and Buatsi on points. Each one of these could easily go the other way and that’s the rarity and beauty of the card.
The whole bill will be shown live in the UK on various platforms as a pay-per-view/box office event, and available worldwide via the DAZN streaming service.
Again, it forms part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season and is multi-promoted, including Top Rank Inc. and British-based outfits Queensberry, BOXXER and Matchroom Boxing.
Make a date and watch with interest. It should be a helluva afternoon into the late evening.
First bell of the seven fights is at 16:00 GMT. Enjoy !
The Undisputed 