The arrival of the boxers who will compete next Saturday night, June 1st, has been completed. Boxing fans from around the world are eagerly anticipating the “5 vs 5” event, which will take place as part of the “Riyadh Season” at the Kingdom Arena in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The boxers gathered in the “Grand arrival” this evening at Boulevard City to greet their fans and conduct press interviews with international and local media.
The highly anticipated fight between Russian Dmitry Bivol, the WBA Super-light heavyweight champion since 2017, and Libyan Malik Zinad, the WBA Mediterranean Continental champion, attracted significant attention from the audience who came to the boxers’ arrival site to take photos with them. The importance of this fight lies in both champions’ efforts to maintain their undefeated records across 22 fights.
On Saturday, British boxer Hamzah Sheeraz, the Commonwealth world champion, WBC Silver titleholder, and undefeated with 19 wins, 15 of them by knockout, will face American Austin Williams. Williams was the top-ranked amateur in the USA before turning professional, achieving 16 wins, 11 by knockout.
Meanwhile, Chinese boxer Zhang Zhilei, ranked as the third-best heavyweight in the world by THE RING magazine, will face American boxer Deontay Wilder, who has held the WBC heavyweight title since 2007.
Scottish boxer Willie Hutchinson, who won the gold medal in the 2016 Youth World Championships in the middleweight category, will face Englishman Craig Richards, the British light heavyweight titleholder.
British boxer Daniel Dubois, the WBA heavyweight titleholder, will meet Croatian Filip Hrgović, who is ranked number one by the International Boxing Federation (IBF).
In conclusion, English professional Nick Ball will face American Raymond Ford, the WBA featherweight titleholder, who has an undefeated record with 15 wins, 8 of them by knockout.
It is worth mentioning that tomorrow (Wednesday) will be dedicated to public workouts, while Thursday will be reserved for the press conference. On Friday, the boxers will undergo the official weigh-in before participating in the big fight on Saturday.
