Promoter Eddie Hearn calls the February 22nd Riyadh Season card the “greatest night of boxing” the sport has seen. The headliner is the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, and the event will be shown live on DAZN.
The Real Draw
Although sometimes Hearn goes a little overboard with his praise of cards, in this case, he’s got it right. This is an excellent line-up from top to bottom. The only thing I would change is the order of fights, as there are a couple of less interesting matchups in front of the gem: Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov. That fight is good enough to be the main event. It’s not that Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 isn’t an excellent fight, but we already saw that one.
We know that Bivol will be on his bike all night once Beterbiev begins pressuring. In the Ortiz Jr-Madrimov, the two will stand and trade bombs, and that’s way more interesting to watch than seeing Beterbiev chase Bivol for 12 rounds.
“February 22nd is the greatest night of boxing that has ever been ever in the sport,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing, talking about the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 event on DAZN PPV in Riyadh. “It is not even comparable to any other fight card that has ever graced the world of boxing.
“Bivol vs. Beterbiev, the rematch for the undisputed. The world heavyweight championship, Dubois vs. Parker. A brilliant middleweight championship between Adames and Hamzah Sheeraz. That is such a tough fight for Hamzah Sheeraz to become world champion.
“Former me, one of the top pound-for-pound fighters against an unbeaten, brilliant American fighter. Shakur Stevenson against Floyd Schofield. Vergil Ortiz vs. Israil Madrimov may be the best fight in the 154-lb division. Callum Smith vs. Joshua Buatsi. It’s an all-British clash.
“You open the night with Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel, a world class 50-50 heavyweight matchup. Riyadh Season, February 22nd. It’s unquestionably the greatest fight card in the history of boxing,” said Hearn.
The co-feature fight between IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker is another fight that could be similar to the main event with a lot of running involved.
Parker used to be a brawler when he was younger, but he’s morphed into a slick boxer in the last couple of years. It’s worked for him thus far against a couple of older heavyweights, Zhang and Deontay Wilder.
Hopefully, Parker doesn’t choose to move for 12 rounds trying to evade Dubois because that could make for a dull fight along with the main event. Having back-to-back fights involving track meets won’t be interesting for the fans.
February 22nd Card
Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2
Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker
Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov
Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield
Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel
Joshua Buatsi vs. Callum Smith
Bradley Rea vs. Constantino Nanga
