Key events
Weâd be remiss to not mention another fight of note, currently unfolding beneath the Kingdom Arena lights. Unrelated to the 5 vs 5 competition, Russiaâs Dmitry Bivol is defending his WBA light heavyweight title against Malik Zinad of Libya. The unbeaten Bivol, a fixture on pound-for-pound lists since a 2022 win over Canelo Ãlvarez, was supposed to be fighting Artur Beterbiev tonight in a hotly anticipated four-belt unification fight for the undisputed title at 175lbs, but Beterbiev was forced to withdraw due to a ruptured meniscus suffered in training camp last month.
As a replacement opponent called up on a monthâs notice in his first world title challenge against one of boxingâs most gifted technicians, Zinad is a 14-1 underdog on merit. Heâs already been floored once, courtesy of a three-punch combination from Bivol punctuated by a crisp left hook. Theyâre into the fourth round and while Zinad has made things a touch more competitive than expected, it would seem to be little more than a matter of time against the far busier and more accurate Bivol.
Liverpool’s Ball becomes Britain’s second current male world champion
A special mention for Britainâs newest world champion: Liverpoolâs Nick Ball. The 27-year-old Merseysider won a razor-thin split decision over Raymond Ford to capture Fordâs WBA featherweight title in a wildly entertaining back-and-forth scrap that surely demands a rematch.
Two judges scored it 115-113 for Ford while the third had it by the same margin for his American foe.
âHeâs a tough man and a class boxer. I had to dig deep to get the belt,â said Ball, a world champion in his second try after being cruelly denied in a controversial March draw with Mexicoâs Rey Vargas.
âIâm made up. I should be two-time [champion] but itâs not the case. Iâm the champ now so it doesnât really matter,â Ball added.
The Liverpudlian becomes Englandâs second active male world champion, joining WBO cruiserweight title-holder Chris Billam-Smith.
âItâs how you recover and come back,â Ball said. âThatâs a true champion and thatâs what I am now.â
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Riyadhâs Kingdom Arena for our round-by-round coverage of Deontay Wilder-Zhilei Zhang and Daniel Dubois-Filip HrgoviÄ, a couple of fascinating heavyweight matchups that will help shape both the short- and long-term future of boxingâs glamour division.
They are the final two fights on a stacked card billed as â5 vs 5: Matchroom vs Queensberryâ, where leading British promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren, once bitter rivals, are putting their respective stables on the line for bragging rights and a reported $3m payday in addition to the fightersâ individual (and undisclosed) purses.
Under the rules of the format, each boxer will earn one point for a decision victory or two for a knockout with no points awarded in the case of a draw. The team captains â thatâs Wilder for Matchroom and Sheeraz for Queensberry â will see their individual points doubled. The team with the most points overall wins. A tiny score bug on the top-left corner of the telecast has been tracking the running score all night. (Weâd venture to guess itâs pretty meaningless for all but the most hardcore of British fight fans, but a rare team concept arguably the most individual of sports is nothing if not a conversation starter.)
Right now Queensberry is dog-walking Matchroom by a 6-0 margin with the two feature attractions to go. Hereâs are the fight-by-fight results so far:
⢠Willy Hutchinson UD 12 Craig Richards QB 1-0 MR (QB 1-0 MR)
⢠Nick Ball SD 12 Raymond Ford QB 1-0 MR (QB 2-0 MR)
⢠Hamzah Sheeraz TKO 11 Austin Williams QB 4-0 MR (QB 6-0 MR)
Weâve got one more fight to come thatâs not part of the 5 vs 5 competition (more on that in a moment). Then itâs Dubois v HrgoviÄ and Wilder v Zhang, in that order.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime hereâs the big, erm, boxing news of the past 24 hours.
