The eagerly awaited Queensbury vs Matchroom 5 vs 5 has been officially announced at a press conference in London.
The full undercard for the much anticipated Undisputed Light Heavyweight match up between Artur Beterbiev (20-0) and Dmitry Bivol (22-0) has just been announced. The undercard which is made up of five fighters each from the two rival promotions. Will battle it out for bragging rights of which outfit is the best in boxing.
Beterbiev vs Bivol
Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, will finally face off for all the marbles at Light-Heavyweight on June 1st. The latest instalment of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season, will bring the undefeated stars together for a fight that fans have being clamouring for. The fight which at times as looked like it will never happen, due to politics both in and out of the boxing ring.
The hard-hitting Russian, who now fights out of Canada. Beterbiev holds the WBC, WBO and IBF title and boasts a perfect record of 20 fights and 20 knockouts. The 39 year old last fought in January 2024, taking on British challenger Callum Smith. Beterbiev stopped the former unified super-middleweight champion in seven rounds, retaining his titles and his undefeated record in the process.
Dmitry Bivol will be looking to retain his WBA Light Heavyweight title. His last fight was also against a Brit, this time Lyndon Arthur who he beat via unanimous decsion. The undefeated Russian who is undefeated in 22 fights with 11 wins coming by way of knockout. Bivols last knockout victory was in 2018 and has faced criticism from people in the sport, due to his apparent lack of knockout power. What Bivol lacks in power he certainly makes up for in technique and it could be argued that Bivol has a far better resume then his opponent. Bivol’s record boast huge names such as pound for pound star Canelo Alvarez.
The fight itself promises to be an intriguing match up. With a classic brawler vs boxer fight and a genuine 50/50 for the undisputed title.
Queensbury vs Matchroom
Beterbiev vs Bivol is supported by a massive undercard and a first in boxing. June 1st will see the two biggest promotional companies, and long standing rivals, Queensbury Promotions and Matchroom Boxing pit some of their best fighters against each other. The undercard is a tournament itself with each fight adding a point to the winners scoreboard. Todays press conference saw the fighters revealed for their respective weight categories.
The first fighters announced and representing the Heavyweight division, will see brit Daniel Dubois (20-2) takes on Fillip Hrgovic (17-0). Dubois stopped brash American Jarrell Miller in his last fight in December. On the same card, the Croatian fighter Hrgovic stopped Mark De Mori. There is a potential that this fight could also include the IBF heavyweight title, if the winner of Fury vs Usyk is stripped off the belt.
The next fight to be announced, this time in the Featherweight division. Nick Ball (19-0-1) representing Queensbury Promotions takes on Matchroom’s Ray Ford (15-0-1) for the WBA Featherweight title. Ford won the title in his last fight. Beating Otabek Khlomatov by knockout at the end of final round, in fight that many believe he was behind on the scorecards. Liverpudlian fighter Nick Ball’s last fight featured on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou. Ball battled to a contentious split draw with Rey Vargas, which if he won would have seen him crowned the WBC Featherweight world champion.
The Middleweight division with British contender Hamzah Sheeraz (19-0) drawn to fight the highly touted American Ammo Williams(16-0). Sheeraz last fight saw him put on a destructive fight against Welsh fighter Liam Williams. Picking up the WBC Silver belt along the way. Undefeated American Williams is also coming off a knockout victory in his last outing.
An all British match up in the Light-Heavyweight division. Pits Craig Richards (18-3) against Queensbury’s Willy Hutchinson (17-1) Richards coming off a stoppage victory in is last outing, albeit against lower opposition following his loss to Joshua Buatsi. Hutchinson, the hard hitting Scot. Is also coming off a knockout victory.
The Wildcard
Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn are not the only ones who selected a weight class. With His Excellency Turki Alalshikh who is the driving force of the Riyadh Season boxing, selected another match up at Heavyweight. The promoters were granted permission to sign one boxer to their relative companies for this match up. Which see’s American Deontay Wilder, representing team Matchroom take on Queenburys Zhilei Zhang.
With both fighters coming off points defeats to Joseph Parker. The loser of the fight will no doubt be under pressure to retire, whilst the winner may get one more run at the title. Both fighter appearing confident in the press conference. This has all the potential to be fight of the night. With a stacked undercard and a main event to match. This may well be the best card of 2024.
What’s your favourite fight on the card? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
