Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) and Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) will meet in twelve days, but Saudi Prince Turki Al Al-Sheikh has already stated that their rematch will take place on October 12 or 13. Al Al-Sheikh has been a supporter of the Fury vs Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) fight from the beginning and has also already scheduled their fight for March 2025.
Prince also wants to invite two big P4P stars, Saul Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) and Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) to his tournament. Their clash is scheduled for later in the year, in December or January.
"We have a strategic vision. When I started, promoters were competing with each other, but now we've managed to get them all to work together. The market has changed. Why has that happened? Because we have a purpose. We are committed to the long-term success of this industry. We will work with all stakeholders to develop boxing," said Turki Al Al-Sheikh.
At the Tokyo Dome Arena in Japan, undefeated "The Monster" Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) scored an impressive sixth-round early victory over "The Panther" Luis Nery (35-2, 27 KOs) in a spectacular fight, thus defending his title as the overall champion in the second flyweight division. Inoue was knocked down in the first round, but was able to return that favor in the second and fifth rounds.
Shane Mosley has dismissed speculation that Saul "Canelo" Alvarez will step into Saturday's fight with Jaime Munguia, already on the decline of his career. At the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the occasion of Cinco de Mayo, Alvarez will defend his outright super middleweight title against fellow Mexican Jaime Munguia, who at 27 is six years younger than him.
Alvarez's defeat to Dmitry Bivol in May 2022 sparked speculation that his career was on the decline, and his three opponents since then - Gennadiy Golovkin, John Ryder and Jermell Charlo - have all survived 12 rounds with him.
Mosley went the full distance with Alvarez in 2012 when the Mexican was quickly earning his reputation, and after finishing his career and watching Alvarez establish himself as a top fighter in the world, Mosley believes he will continue to improve his skills.
At the peak of his career, some boxing analysts considered Mosley to be the best fighter in the world. Mosley spoke favorably of Munguia, but said the following about the champion: "He's still got a lot of power. He's only 33. At 46, I'm still fighting, so he's fine. But I think Munguia is also very good. It should be a pretty interesting fight. I think it's going to be a great fight and I'm looking forward to seeing it - I think it's going to be interesting."
"Counterpunching and speed is on Alvarez's side. He's very fast in counterattacks and he knows when to punch and when not to punch. He's a very good boxer. Munguia is a fighter. He likes to get into exchanges and on the offensive. He's tall, long-armed, has good speed and power and he's very difficult to fight."
"I've always thought he's an interesting fighter, but Freddie Roach with his vast experience and other trainers might be able to steer him in a different direction and make his punches hit better. Maybe he can find the right rhythm and timing with Freddie Roach."
"I give Canelo the edge because he has a lot of experience, but I think Munguia will give him some problems and win some rounds. So we'll see what happens. Anything can happen in this fight. It could be points or it could be a knockout. The fight could go either way. Either one is capable of winning on points or by knockout."
Mosley defeated Oscar De La Hoya twice before later working with him at Golden Boy Promotions. For all the considerable mutual respect between Alvarez and Munguia, the relationship between the champion and De La Hoya, his former promoter, has become increasingly strained.
John Ryder has suffered an early loss to Jaime Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) and a points loss to Saul Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) in his last two fights, but is nonetheless betting on a Canelo win this coming Saturday.
Promoting organization Top Rank has published on its YouTube channel a 10-minute video dedicated to Vasyl Lomachenko 's preparation for his May 11 fight in Australia against local boxer George Kambososos Jr. for the vacant IBF lightweight title.
Oscar De La Hoya planned a return to the ring a few years ago, and now he's worried about Mike Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) having an official, sanctioned fight at age 58. Ironman's opponent on July 20 in Arlington will be Jake Paul (9-1, 6 KOs).
Teofimo Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) is as charismatic and controversial a figure as Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs), but above all, both are excellent in the ring. And perhaps both will cross gloves soon.
"I will destroy him!" - promised a confident Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs), who will take on Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) on June 1 on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol during a big night of boxing in Riyadh.
On June 1 in Saudi Arabia, Deontay Wilder will face Zhang Zhilei in a heavyweight bout on the undercard of Queensberry-Matchroom's "5 on 5" evening, with Artur Beterbiev facing Dmitry Bivol in the main event. Wilder is representing Eddie Hearn, while Zhang is representing Frank Warren.
Also on the night, heavyweight Filip Hrgovic will face Daniel Dubois. Hrgovich represents Eddie Hearn, Dubois represents Frank Warren.
In the bantamweight division, Willie Hutchinson will face Craig Richards. Hutchinson represents Frank Warren, Richards represents Eddie Hearn.
In the middleweight division, Hamza Shiraz will face Ammo Williams. Shiraz represents Frank Warren, Williams represents Eddie Hearn.
Ray Ford will defend his WBA world featherweight title against Nick Ball. Ford represents Eddie Hearn, while Ball represents Frank Warren.
Eddie Hearn has selected Deontay Wilder as his captain in his fight against Zhilei Zhang, while Frank Warren has selected Hamza Shiraz in his fight against Ammo Williams. Two points in this tournament will be awarded for winning early, one point for winning by judges' decision. The points for captains are doubled.
Thus, the full Matchroom-Queensberry "5 on 5" Matchroom-Queensberry "5 on 5" card on June 1 in Saudi Arabia is as follows:
Deontay Wilder vs Zhilei Zhang
Filip Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois.
Ray Ford vs Nick Ball
Craig Richards vs Willie Hutchinson
Ammo Williams vs Hamza Shiraz
"At some point I lost my love for boxing and my passion for training," admitted Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs), who will face Zhang Zhilei (26-2-1, 21 KOs) in a fight for his future.
