Fight fans have doubtless seen the card, the mega-card, they will be treated to on February 22 of 2025, the card dubbed ‘The Last Crescendo’ to of course take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. And it has been suggested that this seven-fight card might just be the best offering yet from Turki Alalshikh and his legendarily deep pockets.
To confirm the line-up:
Artur Beterbiev Vs. Dmitry Bivol II as the headliner
Daniel Dubois Vs. Joseph Parker
Shakur Stevenson Vs. Floyd Schofield
Carlos Adames Vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
Vergil Ortiz Vs. Israil Madrimov
Zhilei Zhang Vs. Agit Kabayel
Joshua Buatsi Vs. Callum Smith.
Phew.
Whatever way you look at it, you must agree that this one is indeed mega. The return fight between light heavyweight rivals Beterbiev and Bivol could go either way, the rematch pleasantly arriving just four months after the first fight, which was of course so close, the decision in favour of Beterbiev diving opinion. Who wins the sequel?
The heavyweight fights we can look forward to on the card might just steal the show, though. Dubois is on a real roll right now, as is Parker, the former WBO champ. Can Dubois keep his IBF title, and can he score a KO or stoppage over the durable Parker?
Zhang and Kabayel, in a WBC interim title fight, promises to be explosive. Zhang has incredibly heavy hands, while Kabayel has a great body attack in his arsenal. Can Kabayel chop down the man-mountain from China?
Really, there is no dud fight on the upcoming card, no filler, all killer, you might say. No fan will complain about paying the PPV fee for this card, I’m sure. But which of the seven fights are you most excited about and are most looking forward to seeing?
The main event is unmissable, a fight, a rematch that had to happen. While the Ortiz-Madrimov fight could prove to be a real war.
Of the seven fights to come, you could make the argument that at least three or four of them are tough to pick, close to 50-50 fights. We’re all looking forward to the December 21st rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, with a decent supporting card but nothing like the February card in terms of star quality all the way. But the February 22 card cannot come around fast enough!
