Good evening and welcome to coverage of a huge night in boxing as the stables of Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn go head to head in a 5v5 showdown in Saudi Arabia.
It is Team Queensberry vs Team Matchroom with the two rival promotion companies battling it out for the bragging rights. The biggest names from each company – Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua – are not involved tonight but there is still plenty of action to come.
The headline fight is Deontay Wilder against Zhilei Zhang, while Daniel Dubois will take on Filip Hrgovic aiming to become the mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk’s IBF world title by claiming the ‘interim’ belt.
“I’m very confident in what I’ve been stating,” Wilder said at the final press conference in Riyadh. “I’m very excited to be working alongside Eddie, we haven’t had the best of relationships in the past, but the thing about time is time brings about changes and I’ve been a part of changes. At this period in time, we’re like a warrior’s drum, with one beat and one sound, and on this left side [with his four teammates in the 5 x 5 event] you can feel this energy that we’re not playing no games. We come to win and we come to knock them out. The five on five, we’re going on a five-man sweep and I’m looking forward to Saturday night.”
There is a solidarity between Warren and Hearn going into this event, as the boxing promoters do what they do best and sell the event.
“Frank and I had never spoken or been in the same room until we came to the first press conference together,” explained Hearn. “My respect for him has grown, and he’s also great company.”
“The rivalry works, the promotion works, and we have discovered something here that is ultimately for the benefit of all of us – the fighters, the fans and the promoters,” Warren added. “But it is no joke that we are taking this very seriously indeed. I’ve never been involved in a team event like this, and the camaraderie is phenomenal.”
