Artur Beterbiev and Dmitrii Bivol topped the bill in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on a bill that was dubbed “the greatest fight card of all time”, and let’s be honest – they were right. This was, without doubt the biggest and best night of action I have ever seen in the sport of boxing. There was a sell-out crowd in attendance in the capital city, as the Kingdom continues to cement itself as the home of big-time boxing.
Performance of the night: Dmitrii Bivol.
Fight of the night: Artur Beterbiev Vs Dmitrii Bivol.
Dmitrii Bivol def. Artur Beterbiev (MD12).
The undisputed light-heavyweight championship went up in the air again last night, as Artur Beterbiev and Dmitrii Bivol faced off for a second time. The first fight ended in a majority decision victory for Beterbiev, with fans and experts split over who deserved to take home the crown. It perfectly set up a blockbuster rematch, and my goodness – did it deliver.
Bivol had a strong start in the first quarter of the fight, his movement was otherworldly at times as he kept Beterbiev at range and changed direction constantly. He threw combinations in phases, before moving again to reset, but Beterbiev was making him work extremely hard with his unrelenting pressure. At the end of the third round Beterbiev landed a hard body shot, and Bivol responded with a clean right hand of his own and with that, the fight was set alight.
In the next quarter of the fight the momentum had started to shift in the favour of Artur Beterbiev. The movement from Bivol was not as fluent, and Beterbiev stalked him around the ring. The constant pressure from Beterbiev continued to disrupt the rhythm of Bivol in rounds four through six, and at the end of the fifth round Beterbiev started to turn the screw, and appeared to hurt his Russian counterpart. The sixth round saw more success for Beterbiev, Bivol couldn’t get a second rest, he managed to throw some combinations of his own, but the pressure of Beterbiev was still unrelenting. Both traded to end the round, but it was all level at this stage. Bivol had taken the first three rounds, and Beterbiev had taken the three after it, marking a big swing in momentum. It was an anxious and exhausting watch, in the best possible way.
It was now Bivol who had to disrupt the rhythm of Beterbiev, and he may have nicked the seventh round with his activity in the final minute, but my goodness did he have to work for it. In the eighth round we saw the momentum start to swing in favour of Bivol. Beterbiev controlled the center ring, but the cleaner work was coming from Bivol, who was throwing fast, accurate combinations. In the ninth round Bivol beautifully slipped a right hand from Beterbiev, and countered with a sharp combination. Boxing of the very highest level was on display, with Bivol having a strong round and picking Beterbiev off. His beautiful movement had returned, and with it, another swing in momentum – this time in his favour.
The tenth and eleventh rounds followed suit, Beterbiev was now throwing a lot of single jabs, and still getting picked off by Bivol. Beterbiev started to show promise in the first half of the eleventh, but was stifled by Bivol who responded with more fast combinations which put him in control once more. The final round then started fast, Bivol was under huge pressure from Beterbiev in the final minute as a defiant Beterbiev continued moving forwards until the final bell sounded. It likely won Beterbiev the final round, but not the fight. I scored the fight 116-112 in favour of Dmitrii Bivol. His win was confirmed by Michael Buffer, this time a majority decision in his favour. Dmitrii Bivol was the new undisputed light-heavyweight champion.
Joseph Parker def. Martin Bakole (TKO2).
IBF world heavyweight champion, Daniel Dubois unfortunately pulled out of his clash with Joseph Parker on Thursday of fight week, due to illness. It was devastating news for Parker, at least until news had reached the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Martin Bakole immediately put his hand up along with his trainer, Billy Nelson. The fight was made in double quick time, which sent social media into meltdown. It was an amazing last minute replacement, better than what we could have hoped for, or at least it was on paper.
In reality, we were actually getting a very overweight and jet-lagged Martin Bakole. He didn’t even land in Riyadh until 2am, on fight day. In hindsight, it was an ill advised decision from whoever is guiding Martin Bakole’s career. Yes, he likely made a fortune fighting Parker at the last minute, but he’s now at the back of the queue for a world title shot, and likely part of the ‘who needs him’ club at heavyweight.
We got a look at a huge Martin Bakole in the first round, who was even wearing Daniel Dubois’ gloves that had ‘DDD’ printed on the back. He landed some heavy shots in the first round, but nothing to greatly trouble Joseph Parker. In the second round Parker was walking onto a few hard uppercuts from Martin Bakole, but landed a good right hand in return to the top of the head. Moments later, Parker landed the very same shot, but this time Bakole’s equilibrium had completely gone, his legs went for a dance before he hit the canvas. Billy Nelson rose to the ring apron, and stopped the fight before he could take any further punishment.
With that, Joseph Parker defended his WBO interim world heavyweight championship, and cemented himself as a top contender in the ‘money division’. He will no doubt be looking to secure another shot at a world title, before the year is out.
Shakur Stevenson def. Josh Padley (TKO9).
Yorkshireman Josh Padley was confirmed as the late replacement on Wednesday of fight week, after Shakur Stevenson was another victim of a late pull-out, this time from Floyd Schofield. Padley was ranked in the top-15 with the WBC, after defeating Mark Chamberlain in September of 2024, which meant that Shakur was able to defend his 135lb crown.
Each round told the same story, Shakur Stevenson was the quicker, sharper and the superior boxer, whilst Padley produced a very game and spirited performance. Shakur had Padley hurt multiple times, but each time the Yorkshireman looked like he was ready to go, he would unbelievably fight back and answer with a barrage of punches. The crowd certainly appreciated the efforts of Padley, but not so much of Shakur. I always feel the same when I watch Shakur Stevenson, he is a boxing master, but I always want more. It feels as though he has many more gears to go through, but we don’t get to see it.
The crowd was very flat after Shakur’s performance, even when he dropped Padley with a body shot in the ninth round. Padley fired back once again, but ultimately couldn’t avoid the punishment. He was dropped a further two times in the round, each time with body shots. Padley punched the floor in frustration, and the towel came in from his corner. It was a spirited effort from Padley, but ultimately it wasn’t enough on the night. Shakur Stevenson celebrated on the ropes, and was met with boos from the Saudi crowd.
We are still left wanting more from Shakur Stevenson, but hopefully he can secure a huge fight in the summer.
Carlos Adames draw. Hamzah Sheeraz.
Hamzah Sheeraz drew with the WBC world middleweight champion, Carlos Adames in a hotly contested decision. Through the first quarter of the fight Hamzah Sheeraz was successfully boxing on the back foot, and keeping Adames at range with his long left jab. The punch output from Sheeraz was low, but he was successfully nullifying the forward pressure from the Caribbean fighter. The fourth round saw the last real success from Sheeraz, he glided around the ring even quicker than before, and landed some eye-catching shots on the reigning world champion.
However, it was all downhill from there for the Brit. Adames increased his work rate, and although a lot of shots landed on the gloves and arms of Sheeraz, there wasn’t much coming back. Adames warmed into the fight and started landing with some consistency, he was the one that was bringing the pressure and punch output, with Sheeraz very seldom sending anything back the other way. The huge downturn in output from Sheeraz saw Adames build significant momentum, and undoubtedly a comfortable lead as the fight went on.
The output from Sheeraz started to increase from the ninth round onwards, but he didn’t do enough to dominate any of the remaining rounds. He did land with some consistency in the eleventh round, which prompted a roar from the crowd and forced Turki Alalshikh off his seat to wave him forwards. It wasn’t enough from Sheeraz, he failed to secure a foothold in the fight after the fourth round, and Carlos Adames can consider himself extremely unlucky to not be awarded the decision. Upon completion of the fight, we got a look at Hamzah Sheeraz’ hand, which appeared to be broken – that would help explain why it was such a subdued and strange performance from the usually explosive Brit.
Vergil Ortiz Jr def. Israil Madrimov (UD12).
Vergil Ortiz Jr successfully defended his WBC interim world super welterweight championship against a very tricky, Israil Madrimov. Madrimov, a former world champion, started the fight exceptionally well. For the first three rounds he implemented slick footwork, and was a constant moving target for the heavy-hitter, Ortiz. It was fair to say that through the first quarter of the fight, Madrimov comprehensively outboxed the 26 year old Texan.
However, from the fourth round, Ortiz started to increase the tempo which brought him success. He closed the distance more effectively in the fourth round than he did in the previous three combined, and started to let his hands go more frequently. As the rounds went on, Madrimov opted to stand and trade with Ortiz, a terrible mistake. The slick movement was still on show in phases from Madrimov, but he struggled to swing the momentum back in his favour.
By round nine, Ortiz was hurting Madrimov and ended the round with a flurry of damaging shots. Ortiz had dragged the Uzbek into his kind of fight, a brawl. Both men celebrated at the sound of the final bell, after a huge effort from both in the final round. Ortiz took home a unanimous decision victory, and successfully defended his belt. Ortiz solidified himself as one of the best 154lb fighters on the planet, taking out a very tricky, and widely avoided Israil Madrimov.
It’s unlikely we’ll see Ortiz fight the full champion (Sebastian Fundora) next, but there’s no doubt more big fights on the horizon for the Golden Boy star.
Agit Kabayel def. Zhilei Zhang (KO6).
Zhilei Zhang and Agit Kabayel went toe to toe, for the WBC interim world heavyweight championship. Kabayel ran out a worthy winner, in a dominant performance – despite a major scare.
In the opening rounds Zhang had controlled the center ring well, and the thud of his shots confirmed that the Chinese power was still present. However by the second round it was clear that targeting the body was a large part of Kabayel’s game plan, he landed some impressive shots in the second but was also victim to some thudding blows from Zhang. The fight was heating up nicely, Kabayel had continued success to the body, but had to eat some shots while getting inside Zhang’s range. By round number four, Zhang was visibly gasping for air as the onslaught to the body continued.
Zhang was clearly in trouble at the start of the fifth round, and even in danger of being stopped before dramatically dropping Agit Kabayel with two big left straights. Kabayel recovered well and with no panic at all, he went straight back to his gameplan. Through five rounds Kabayel had landed twice the amount of punches that Zhang did.
The sixth round brought a very odd moment. Kabayel landed heavy body shots and Zhang looked like he was about to go down. The referee, Mark Lyson, sent Kabayel to the neutral corner, only to turn around and find Zhang was still on his feet. Action resumed, and in the final minute of the round Kabayel landed a sickening right uppercut to the midriff of Zhang. The Chinese giant was forced to his knees, and was in visible discomfort as Mark Lyson reached the count of ten. It was a superb game plan and execution from Agit Kabayel, who will be hoping to set up a clash with Oleksandr Usyk.
Callum Smith def. Joshua Buatsi (UD12).
Callum Smith defeated Joshua Buatsi to win the WBO interim world light-heavyweight championship. This was a much different fight to undisputed match that topped the bill, but could have easily been the fight of the night. Both fighters had success to the body early, Buatsi landing a hard left hook to the belt line of Smith in the third round that forced him to cover up. In the fourth round, Smith attacked the body and this time it was Buatsi that had to tuck his elbows tightly to his body.
It was a back and forth affair, with the momentum swinging either way throughout. An incredible sixth round saw Callum Smith dominate and rock Joshua Buatsi, only for Buatsi to rock Smith in the last 10 seconds of the round, unbelievable action. Callum Smith had a strong eighth round after both fighters caught their breath in the seventh. Both fighters were having success, but it would appear that the cleaner, more consistent work came from Callum Smith. He appeared to have slowed Joshua Buatsi in the ninth, and was catching him with heavy shots. At this stage Buatsi was continuously dabbing at his right eye, hinting at some discomfort.
However, Buatsi had a resurgent tenth round, and landed some impressive, clean shots. Both men looked tired, but there were rare signs of encouragement for the Ghanaian born Brit. He had another strong round in the eleventh, landing a barrage of punches on Smith that all went unanswered, unfortunately for Buatsi the referee halted the action due to a rabbit punch – which stifled his momentum. It was all to play for in the twelfth and final round. Virgil Hunter told Buatsi “you need to get the knockout” before sending him out for a final time. But it was Callum Smith who had the stronger last round, with both fighters trading heavy blows.
An exceptional fight had gone the distance. Callum Smith got the nod on the scorecards, and was a worthy winner. It was slightly marred by a disgraceful 119-110 scorecard from British judge, Steve Gray. Smith proved once again that he’s one of the UK’s top fighters, and sets up some huge fights for the remainder of 2025.
My Fights to Make Next.
Below are some fights I’d love to see next, granted that Anthony Yarde & Gervonta Davis come through their scheduled bouts. What fights do you want to see next?
- Dmitrii Bivol Vs Artur Beterbiev.
- Callum Smith Vs David Benavidez.
- Joshua Buatsi Vs Anthony Yarde.
- Oleksandr Usyk Vs Agit Kabayel.
- Gervonta Davis Vs Shakur Stevenson.
