Riyadh: Russian Dmitry Bivol retained his International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association light heavyweight titles against Libyan boxer Malik Zinad, who withstood until the sixth round before succumbing to tactical punches that ended his 22-win streak.
Bivol maintained his undefeated record, prompting Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Turki Al Al-Sheikh to invite him for another bout on October 12 in Riyadh as part of Riyadh Season 2024.
In the 5 vs 5 matches held as part of Riyadh Season at Kingdom Arena, Queensberry fighters triumphed over their Matchroom opponents. In the first match, Scottish boxer Willy Hutchinson, gold medalist at the 2016 Youth World Championship in the middleweight category, won by unanimous decision after 12 rounds against British light heavyweight champion Craig Richards.
In the second match, Queensberry boxer Nick Ball won by a split decision against US Matchroom boxer Raymond Ford, the WBA featherweight titleholder with an undefeated record of 1
5 wins, eight by knockout, marking Ford’s first career loss.
In another Kingdom Arena bout, British boxer Hamzah Sheeraz of Queensberry, Commonwealth world champion and holder of the WBC silver title with an undefeated record of 19 wins, 15 by knockout, defeated US Austin Williams of Matchroom, who was the top-ranked amateur in the US before turning professional with 16 wins, 11 by technical knockout in the 1st round.
Sheeraz’s victory gave Queensberry a 6-0 lead over Matchroom.
In the eighth round of the match between British heavyweight WBA titleholder Daniel Dubois and Croatian Filip Hrgovic, ranked first by the IBF, Queensberry scored their 8th point with another TKO victory by Dubois, as Matchroom continued losing match after match.
In the final bout, Chinese boxer Zhilei Zhang, ranked third-best heavyweight boxer in the world, faced US Deontay Wilder, the WBC heavyweight champion since 2007; Zhilei secured two additional points for Frank Warren’s team with a TKO victory in the 5th round, concluding
the 5 vs 5 event with a 10-point sweep for Queensberry, whose boxers earned a total prize of $3 million.
Source: Saudi Press Agency