Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn plans to have some of the sport's biggest stars such as Canelo Alvarez and Anthony Joshua fight in Abu Dhabi next year.
Hearn discussed the possibility of having Alvarez and Joshua fight in the UAE while previewing Matchroom's upcoming event in the region on November 5, as light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol defends his belt against unbeaten Gilberto Ramirez. Joshua has competed twice in Saudi Arabia, losing out to Oleksandr Usyk last month in their rematch in Jeddah, but has never competed in UAE.
All of Alvarez's professional fights have either taken place in Mexico or the US and he would also be making his UAE debut. "The name's mentioned are all in play for 2023, Canelo Alvarez, Katie Taylor, Anthony Joshua, these are the kind of stars you're going to see coming to Abu Dhabi," Hearn told Off Script on Dubai Eye.
"Firstly, the plan is to give everyone a night they'll never forget on November 5 and that's why we're stacking the card deeply with so much much talent and great fights so everybody will walk away and say 'wow, boxing is born in Abu Dhabi'. Globally this card is recognised as one of the best fight nights of the year so far.
Welsh featherweight champion Joe Cordina looks to make the first defence of his title against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov on the November 5 card whilst Chantelle Cameron fights Jessica McCaskill for the undisputed women's super-lightweight titles. Hearn thinks that unless stars such as Joshua and Alvarez fight in the UAE, it will be hard to grow boxing at grassroots level in the region.
"You can talk about boxing in this region but unless you bring these stars here and inspire that next generation," he added. "I don't think you can grow grassroots boxing in the same way. Now, Arab boxers have the platform and the ability to be apart of major shows in their country and in the region.
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"One-off events just don't work when you're talking about building the numbers at a grassroots level, but if we can produce a star from the UAE it will change the sport forever in the region. There's no reason why we can't.
"We're looking to develop not just our own business and have offices in Abu Dhabi, but from a gym level, excellence level and performance level, to give these young fighters the coaching and the facilities they need to go on and become major names in the sport."
Alvarez recently defended his undisputed super-middleweight titles for the first time by outpointing Gennady Golovkin in their trilogy fight, whilst Joshua is currently in talks to face domestic rival Tyson Fury following his loss to Usyk last month.
