Saudi Arabia’s latest boxing announcement concerns an event that is being hailed by many in the sport as the ‘greatest fight card of all time’.
That has naturally increased anticipation for 22 February, when a staggering collection of fights take place in Riyadh, though it will also increase scrutiny over the Kingdom’s sportswashing tactics.
The event will be headlined by a rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, as they clash for the undisputed light-heavyweight titles for the second time in four months. And in the chief-support bout, Daniel Dubois defends his IBF heavyweight belt against Joseph Parker.
Elsewhere, significant names are littered throughout the card: Zhilei Zhang, Shakur Stevenson, Joshua Buatsi, Vergil Ortiz Jr, and more.
Below, Indy Sport breaks down the fights and looks at who may come out on top on 22 February.
Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2
The first fight, which Beterbiev won via majority decision in October, was razor close – more so than the scorecards suggested. Indy Sport scored that bout a draw, yet Beterbiev’s hand was raised as he stayed unbeaten, handed Bivol a first professional loss, and took his fellow half-Russian’s world title. The result made Beterbiev, previously unified champion, undisputed at light-heavyweight, and now he defends all the gold in a rematch with Bivol.
It is easy to imagine this fight being very similar to the first, both in action and result. In Octber, it felt like Bivol could not have done more; his defensive work was brilliant as he became the first man to avoid a knockout loss to Beterbiev, and he fought daringly in phases – putting Beterbiev under pressure as often as possible. The issue is: Beterbiev can do more next time, even after he won the first meeting.
Beterbiev came on strong in the second half of the fight, so if he can get going earlier in the rematch, he may well secure victory again. Bivol, meanwhile, needs some judges who value his defence; it felt unfair that none of the three in October gave him the win.
Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker
This one is also so difficult to call. Dubois was written off by some fans and pundits after his stoppage loss to Joe Joyce in 2020, his struggles against Kevin Lerena in 2022, and his TKO defeat by Oleksandr Usyk in 2023. But since then, the 27-year-old Briton has been resurgent: stopping Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua in the last 12 months, and becoming IBF champion in the process.
But New Zealand’s Parker is also enjoying a renaissance. Earlier in his career, the 32-year-old suffered points losses to Joshua and Dillian Whyte, and just two years ago he was stopped by Joyce. But Parker’s recent run, including under his partnership with Tyson Fury’s coach Andy Lee, contains five straight wins – with impressive victories over Deontay Wilder and Zhang in his last two outings.
This match-up with Dubois is an enthralling one. All heavyweights hit hard, but Dubois has the power advantage here, and he is a smarter boxer than he often gets credit for. Parker climbed off the canvas twice to outpoint Zhang, but it won’t be surprising if a supremely confident Dubois finds the shot to keep Parker down.
Shakur Stevenson vs Floyd Schofield
Stevenson is regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound talents in boxing... but doesn’t display the depth of that talent often enough. The American is already a two-weight champion at just 27 years old, but he needs to start giving fans more reasons to watch him: more stoppages, bigger names on his resume. As such, he needs an impressive performance here, as he defends the WBC lightweight title against Schofield, who is just 22 years old but has a solid record at 18-0. Schofield will be hungry, but Stevenson should be a class above – show it, Shakur.
Carlos Adames vs Hamzah Sheeraz
At this point, it would feel unwise to pick against Sheeraz. While Adames is an experienced operator at 30 years old and 24-1, Sheeraz has moved through the ranks almost flawlessly. The 25-year-old’s last three results read: second-round KO of Tyler Denny; 11th-round KO of Austin “Ammo” Williams; first-round KO of Liam Williams. Now, the Briton finally gets a middleweight world-title fight, and this could be his coming-out party. Then again, almost every Sheeraz fight feels like that.
Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov
Another fun match-up, this one at super-welterweight. Madrimov fought valiantly against Terence Crawford this summer, and he was unbeaten prior to that result, so he’ll enter this one with great confidence. Well, actually, that depends on how he fares in December; the Uzbek, 29, must overcome Serhii Bohachuk on the Fury vs Usyk 2 undercard to guarantee this clash with Ortiz.
And what of Ortiz? The American, 26, is 22-0 with 21 KOs – a fearsome fighter. The interim champ thought he was due for a mouthwatering bout with Jaron “Boots” Ennis here, only for talks to reportedly fall through. Boots has taken the blame from fans, while a frustrated Ortiz should have the bit between his teeth when he faces Madrimov. Ortiz might well announce himself to the wider boxing world in captivating fashion.
Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel
This could be absolute chaos. Zhang has 22 KO wins from 27 total victories, and he showed off his “Chinese power” with his detonation of Deontay Wilder in June, having knocked out Joyce twice in 2023. The 41-year-old did stutter in a decision loss to Parker in March, but he still dropped the Kiwi twice on that night. Kabayel moves well for a heavyweight and showed that as he upset Arslanbek Makhmudov 12 months ago, prior to his next knockout: against Frank Sanchez in May. Like most bouts on this card, this fight could go either way, but a tentative pick would be Kabayel, 32, to stay unbeaten – though not without going through real adversity.
Joshua Buatsi vs Callum Smith
Buatsi can be compared to Stevenson, in that the Briton is tremendously talented but doesn’t always show the true extent of his gifts. He was forced to work in a showdown with good friend Dan Azeez in February, before overcoming Willy Hutchinson in a gritty affair in October. Still, there was merit in those wins, which kept the Briton unbeaten, showed off another side to him, and ultimately took him to the WBO interim light-heavyweight title.
Now, the 31-year-old defends that belt against a veteran in Smith, who is certainly wily enough to deny fans the best of Buatsi... Can the champion finally put it all together and produce the performance he’s been striving for? Whether or not he does, he should get the win over Smith and stay in line for a potential clash with Beterbiev or Bivol.
