STARS OF PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE TO KICK OFF THE RING OF FIRE
All eyes will be on Saudi Arabia this weekend when Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk put it on the line to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. Ahead of the headline act, however, stars of the past, present and future will showcase their talents on an action-packed undercard.
Aside from the two world title fights, the most notable name on the undercard is that of former light-heavyweight monster Sergey Kovalev.
After becoming unified 175lbs champion in 2016, he suffered back-to-back defeats against the great Andre Ward, before a shock loss to Eleider Alvarez, which he avenged six months later to become a two-time world champion.
A win over Anthony Yarde followed before he suffered the fourth defeat of his career at the hands of a certain Canelo Alvarez.
Having returned to winning ways in 2022 against Tervel Pulev, he has only fought once in over four years, and he will be looking to gain some much-needed momentum up at cruiserweight against Sweden’s Robin Safar.
On a night where heavyweight boxing will take centre stage, there could well be a fight-of-the-night contender in another clash of the big boys as 24-0 faces 24-0 with Agit Kabayel taking on Cuban Frank Sanchez.
Faultless in their careers so far, both men fought on the Joshua vs Ngannou card and recorded statement wins.
With the pair ranked in the top 10 of all four governing bodies, the winner will likely set themselves up for a crack at a vacant world title if the winner of Fury vs Usyk decides to vacate instead of face their mandatories, which is already likely with the IBF.
With both men of similar height and age, while boasting a similar KO ratio, this is a proper 50/50 clash between two top contenders. Don’t be surprised if this one gets the pulses racing as we prepare for the main event.
Now to some of the stars of the future on the undercard, and when it comes to ‘prospects’, they don’t come much bigger than Moses Itauma.
A standout amateur at youth level, he’s taken to the professional ranks like a duck to water with eight wins in as many fights over a 15-month period. Six of those failed to go the distance, which tells its own story.
An elusive southpaw who can bang with both hands, he will be confident of picking up the first title of his professional career when he faces the 25-3 Ilja Mezencev for the WBO Inter-Continental title.
Do not blink.
Another name on the undercard you may be familiar with is Mark Chamberlain. Boasting a 15-0 record, with 11 of those victories coming by way of stoppage, it’s no secret that he has a big fan in Turki Alalshikh.
Very much a front-foot fighter with a deadly killer instinct, he’s already ranked in the top 15 across all four governing bodies and victory over Nigeria’s Joshua Wahab could potentially set him up for a huge fight against Olympic gold medallist Andy Cruz on the touted 5vs5 card later this year.
What a fight that would be.
Prior to all of the aforementioned, Isaac Lowe will be looking to make it four wins on the bounce following back-to-back stoppage defeats when he faces Hasib Ahmadi, while Daniel Lapin and David Nyika will both be aiming to make a big impression in their respective fights.
All eyes will be on the main event, and rightly so, but the undercard is packed full of intriguing bouts and potential stars of the future.
This weekend cannot come soon enough!
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