A DOMESTIC HOLE
As British boxing finds itself sucked into the Saudi stratagem, it is time to look at the hollow lair that is our own domestic schedule, and how that might play out over 2024.
It would come across spoilt to begin to complain about the boxing dynasty that HE. and his willing workmates are building in the desert. Whatever fight they want, they make.
And whilst the unlimited money glitch is awesome, it has dragged several of our British talents from their headline patches, and plonked them onto these big bonanza cards.
If you take last year’s Fury-Ngannou and ‘Day of Reckoning’ cards, and both upcoming Joshua-Ngannou and Fury-Usyk ones too, you have removed a whopping 13 fighters from UK main event slots. That is without the dozen co-main eventers and 11 other card fillers.
There is no way to compete. The fighters are choosing the hand that feeds fattest.
And so they should, but that doesn’t mean concern can’t be expressed about the domestic impact. For example, there are no televised UK shows for the next two weeks.
Even beyond that, there is another two-week gap until Queensberry’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ show in Birmingham.
I understand for both Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren, immediate priority has shifted towards the Saudi scene. It makes sense, and it is, after all, the current home of their two biggest assets.
And of course any effort that brings us closer towards Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua should under no circumstances be opposed.
However, with Ben Shalom and Boxxer, the lack of Saudi involvement should be seen as an opportunity to lay down a marker. A chance to try and dominate the domestic scene.
Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez was a strong opening to February, and Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke - with a dose of Florian Marku vs Chris Kongo - is building to be a very neat night of boxing.
But it is beyond that in which they must continue to land fancied fights.
Buatsi and Anthony Yarde shared the mic after the latter’s win last Saturday, with a fight between the two looking like the obvious move. Arguably the country’s two best at 175lb, this fight multiplies in stature if the Sky machine can give it that mainstream nudge.
The same can be said for a potential fight between Dalton Smith and Adam Azim, who are two of Britain’s most electrifying young talents.
Smith, of course, will have tunnel vision for Jose Zepeda on March 23rd, but after that can look forward to the newly revised April 1st purse bid date. It is a bid Boxxer must win, or face the threat of losing one of their hotshots to a rival network.
Add those to the schedule, finalise a date for Chris Billam-Smith’s rematch with Richard Riakporhe, and it starts to look a whole lot rosier for Boxxer on the domestic front.
It is a big first half of 2024 not just for Boxxer, but Sky Sports’ future in the sport too. If they are to have a year that replicates the last, it could well be the end of their 32-year boxing journey.
Matchroom and Queensberry will likely have a standard year in Britain, with several of their shows used almost to tee-up the bigger fights, which will of course land in Saudi.
Hamzah Sheeraz and Craig Richards are two perfect examples from the weekend gone by.
Wasserman will want to return with Lyndon Arthur sooner rather than later, whilst landing big fights for both Harlem Eubank and Josh Kelly - with the pair delivering viewing figures in the millions last year.
If we are to get the fights that we crave, then 2024 could go well for us here in Britain. If we aren’t, well, at least Saudi isn’t in a completely impractical time zone.
Oscar Bevis
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