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Turki Alalshikh’s “Riyadh Season” may have just put together the best boxing card ever.
Alalshikh on Monday formally announced a loaded seven-fight card for Feb. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Sitting atop the bill is the heavily-anticipated rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
The first fight between Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) was hailed by many as one of the best potential matchups in the sport, and it delivered in the ring with a sensational 12-round contest in October. However, many viewers were left disappointed with the result, which gave Beterbiev a controversial claim to being the undisputed light heavyweight champion.
The IBF immediately ordered Beterbiev to honor his mandatory obligation against little-known Michael Eifert, but a step-aside deal has been agreed on to allow Beterbiev and Bivol to rematch just four months after their epic first meeting with all of the WBO, WBC, IBF, IBO and WBA belts on the line.
In the co-feature, Britain’s Daniel Dubois makes the second defense of his IBF heavyweight title against New Zealand’s former champion, Joseph Parker.
Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) shocked the boxing world when he dropped Anthony Joshua four times en route to a fifth-round knockout at Wembley Stadium in September to successfully defend his IBF world heavyweight title. The 27-year-old suffered a defeat to Oleksandr Usyk for the unified titles in August 2023, but rebounded with wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic heading into the bout with Joshua.
Parker (35-3, 23 KOs), a former heavyweight champion, has also been on a fantastic run since his defeat to Joe Joyce in September 2022. The New Zealander pulled off an upset similar to Dubois vs. Joshua when he dominated Deontay Wilder in December, then followed it up by getting up off the floor twice to snatch Zhilei Zhang’s WBO interim title by majority decision in March.
Also joining the card is Shakur Stevenson, who will put his WBC lightweight title up for grabs when he meets fast-rising prospect Floyd Schofield.
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) was initially ticketed to battle his mandatory challenger William Zepeda on Feb. 22, but Zepeda picked up an injury when he edged Tevin Farmer by a split decision last month on another “Riyadh Season” card. Also in November, Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) rose off the floor in Round 11 to take a wide decision over Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron.
Many have argued the opportunity has come too soon for Schofield, however “Kid Austin” and his father are insistent they have the skills to battle Stevenson. The pair have previously shared the ring in sparring.
In the fourth world title fight on the card, Hamzah Sheeraz challenges for Carlos Adames’ WBC middleweight strap.
Adames (24-1, 18 KOs) was upgraded to full WBC champion in May and has since made a single defense of his title with a one-sided unanimous decision over Terrell Gausha.
Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs) competed three times in 2024, with two of those bouts ending early — Liam Williams failed to make it out of the opening round with him, and Tyler Denny lasted just one round longer. Austin Williams managed to push Sheeraz into the 11th round, but he eventually suffered a knockout loss as well.
As previously reported, Vergil Ortiz Jr. defends his WBC interim super welterweight belt against the former WBA champion Israil Madrimov.
Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs) recovered from two knockdowns to win a close majority decision over Serhii Bohachuk in August. Just seven days earlier, Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) was on the wrong end of a tight loss to Terence Crawford in Los Angeles.
The organizers for the Feb. 22 event hoped it would be Jaron “Boots” Ennis in the opposite corner of Ortiz, however a dispute over the weight limit prevented that bout from being finalized.
Madrimov will also fight Bohachuk on the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2 undercard on Dec. 21 before he clashes with Ortiz on Feb. 22, his promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed Monday on social media.
The vacant WBC interim heavyweight title is on the line as well when Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang go head-to-head to open the event.
Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs), a former European champion, has picked up two major wins on “Riyadh Season” cards. In December 2023, Kabayel dropped Arslanbek Makhmudov three times as a heavy underdog en route to halting him in the fourth round. On the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk undercard in May, Kabayel emerged victorious in a WBC eliminator, stopping Cuban contender Frank Sanchez in seven rounds.
Zhang (27-2, 22 KOs) was last seen in action in June when he knocked out Deontay Wilder in five rounds in the headliner of the “Riyadh Season” 5 vs. 5 event to give Queensberry a 10-0 sweep over Matchroom.
Rounding out the card, British light heavyweight contenders Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith are set to collide for Buatsi’s WBO interim title.
Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs) scored two knockdowns against Willy Hutchinson to win a split decision and capture the WBO interim light heavyweight championship on the Joshua vs. Dubois undercard.
Smith (30-2, 22 KOs), who previously held the WBA and Ring Magazine super middleweight world titles, was stopped in seven rounds by Beterbiev for the unified light heavyweight titles in January. The Liverpudlian rebounded with a low-key victory this past Saturday, and now looks for another shot at the world title on Feb. 22.
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