Matching room vs. Queensberry 5-v-5, Bivol-Zinad Weigh-In Results from Riyadh
Deontay Wilder will no doubt be looking for his powerful right hand to erase the 68-pound weight disadvantage.
The arena is set for Matchroom Boxing vs. Queensberry 5-v-5. The five sets air live Saturday on DAZN Pay-Per-View at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) was 214.6 pounds hoping to rebound from his recent outing. The former WBC heavyweight champion was 213 pounds in an upset loss to Parker on Dec. 23, also at the Kingdom Arena.
Zhang was 282.7 pounds, down nearly nine pounds from his last outing. Ring's No. 5-rated heavyweight had a very difficult 291.6 pounds in a disappointing loss to Joseph Parker on March 8 at this same venue.
Not only does Wilder represent Matchroom in the exciting event, but he was named team captain at Saturday's event. Zhang is fighting for Queensberry for the fourth time in a row.
Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois will fight for the IBF heavyweight title.
The situation was approved by the sanctioning body on Friday morning, as permission for Hrgovic to challenge for longer.
Croatia's Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs)—who represents Matchroom—was 247.4 pounds, his heaviest fight since September 2020.
Dubois of London (20-2, 19 KOs) was the heaviest of his career at 245.8 pounds. Formerly signed by Queensberry on the WBA heavyweight list who took 239 pounds in 10.th Jarrell Miller's knockout finale on December 23rd at this location.
Hrgovic has been a force to be reckoned with since his August 2022 win over Zhang in their last IBF bout in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Raymond Ford defends his WBA featherweight title against England's Nick Ball.
Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs), No. 7 at 126, it was 125.4 pounds as he tried his first defense. Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs), No. 4 at 126, was 125.8 pounds in his second title bid. The Queensberry-promoted Brit has been unlucky with the draw in his March 8 WBC featherweight and Ring No. 1 bout. 3 Rey Vargas (36-1-1, 22 KOs) in this same place.
Ford won the title in a surprising way. The 25-year-old southpaw from Camden, New Jersey stopped Otabek in the closing seconds of their fast-paced match on March 2 in Verona, New York. The win saw Ford become the first American home-grown Matchroom champion to claim a major title.
Queensberry team captain Hamzah Sheeraz and Austin 'Ammo' Williams are determined to clinch the 12-round WBC middleweight title.
Ilford's Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KOs) easily distributed 159.6 pounds on his 6'3” frame. Houston's Williams (16-0, 11 KOs) was 159.4 pounds, wearing a Cherokee hat at the weigh-in.
Matchroom's Craig Richards and Queensberry's Willy Hutchinson were both under the light heavyweight limit in their scheduled 12-round contest.
Richards (18-3-1, 11 KOs) was 174.2 pounds for his first career fight outside of England. Scotland's Hutchinson 17-1 (13 KOs) was at 174 pounds in his second fight outside the UK and first outside Europe.
The two exchanged barbs all week and went head-to-head at Friday's weigh-in.
Outside of the 5-vs.-5 contest, Dmitri Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) defends his WBA light heavyweight title against undefeated Malik Zinad.
Bivol—co-promoted by Matchroom—weighs in at 175 pounds. Zinad (22-0, 16 KOs) was 174.2 pounds.
The night was set aside for Bivol to face Artur Beterbiev in the RING/undisputed light heavyweight championship. Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs), No. 1 in 175, he was forced to withdraw due to a torn meniscus.
Zinad answered the phone immediately. The 30-year-old Libyan of Maltese origin is entering his first title fight.
Bivol has held the WBA light heavyweight belt since Nov. 2017, his reign is the second longest among active male managers. He will enter his 12thth job full title fight.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,’script’,
‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘161022561146884’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.10&appId=128026463954740”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
Source link
