BN weekly columnist Joe Hughes looks back at last week’s Riyadh card, the possibility of future events and how Wilder has exceeded expectations and has nothing left to prove.
Matchroom vs Queensberry 5 vs 5 last weekend was introduced as a show and as a concept. It was entertaining, the fights were good and you loved watching the whole card.
The competition between the developers added a lot of fun to it. We got five straight fights, something that is, unfortunately, rare in professional boxing. Most shows have an undercard with a one-sided match up and usually one, sometimes two, evenly matched bouts at the top of the bill.
Fingers crossed, this could be the start of more cards of this type, with more high level 50/50 games, v promoter or teams of some sort.
What boxing fan wouldn’t watch UK vs USA, Mexico vs Puerto Rico or Golden Boy vs Top Rank?
Especially if those on the teams were the best fighters to represent their team. For example, in an ideal world, Matchroom vs Queensberry would have featured Joshua vs Fury as the heavyweight show of the night.
What about a team tournament, possibly featuring the likes of Queensberry, Matchroom, Boxxer, Golden Boy, Top Rank, PBC, etc.? There should be more matchups, which is good for sports.
Daniel Dubois gets a right to Filip Hrgovic
Frank Warren was probably the biggest winner of the night. It ended up being one sided as far as the team was concerned. Eddie Hearn took it well and enjoyed laughing at himself about it. I am sure we will see the groups again and again.
The biggest loser of the night was Deontay Wilder. In his last two fights, he looked lackluster, couldn’t pull the trigger and was outgunned.
However, in life you would not “win” more than he did. He took up boxing to take care of his disabled daughter, and ended up doing just that, winning an Olympic bronze medal and the WBC heavyweight world championship. He earns tens of millions of dollars—more than his daughter would ever need. He should retire now his health is still strong.
I was in London this week for an interview with the BBofC as part of the process of getting my coaching licence. You are asked a few questions about the sport, some of the rules and what you would do in certain situations. It went well and now I have to do a small course and I will be able to get my license.
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