- Wilder v Zhang and Dubois v Hrgović top Riyadh card
- Liverpool’s Ball becomes WBA featherweight champion
- Send Bryan a tweet at @BryanAGraham or email him
We’d be remiss to not mention another fight of note, currently unfolding beneath the Kingdom Arena lights. Unrelated to the 5 vs 5 competition, Russia’s Dmitry Bivol is defending his WBA light heavyweight title against Malik Zinad of Libya. The unbeaten Bivol, a fixture on pound-for-pound lists since a 2022 win over Canelo Álvarez, was supposed to be fighting Artur Beterbiev tonight in a hotly anticipated four-belt unification fight for the undisputed title at 175lbs, but Beterbiev was forced to withdraw due to a ruptured meniscus suffered in training camp last month.
As a replacement opponent called up on a month’s notice in his first world title challenge against one of boxing’s most gifted technicians, Zinad is a 14-1 underdog on merit. He’s already been floored once, courtesy of a three-punch combination from Bivol punctuated by a crisp left hook. They’re into the fourth round and while Zinad has made things a touch more competitive than expected, it would seem to be little more than a matter of time against the far busier and more accurate Bivol.