Analysis
Matchroom vs Queensberry 5v5: Matchup Predictions
Deontay Wilder vs. Zhilei Zhang is likely to be the main event of the Matchroom vs. Queensberry 5-on-5 competition to be held on June 1 in Saudi Arabia, with the divisions for today’s fights chosen by the promoters and Saudi organizer Turki Alalshikh.
Queensberry’s Frank Warren chose the heavyweight and middleweight divisions, while Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn chose the featherweight and delicate heavyweight divisions.
Turki Alalshikh chose a second heavyweight fight to round out the format, which somewhat defeats the purpose on paper, as well as the fact that Alalshikh’s fight can feature companies represented by any heavyweight, not just someone under contract with business.
So this fight obviously appears to be Wilder vs. Zhang. Zhang most recently fought for Queensberry, but has fought for Matchroom in the past. Wilder hasn’t worked directly with either company and it seems like it could go either way.
The main attraction of the gala will be the undisputed fight for the delicate heavyweight championship between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, which is not part of the 5v5 competition.
What will the remaining fights be like?
Promoters can choose representatives from their internal stables.
Two heavyweight fights
So we are 99.9 percent sure that Alalshikh’s chosen heavyweight wild card fight is Deontay Wilder vs Zhilei Zhangwhich side these guys are fighting for a little more in the air.
As we have already mentioned, Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KO) after the defeat against Joseph Parker is recording the worst performance of his career, just like Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KO) after the defeat against Parker. But it’s an critical fight, and while it could really stink if Wilder simply doesn’t throw punches again, the intrigue is that it will likely see the two biggest hitters in the division go head-to-head.
Photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Warren’s second heavyweight fight seems all but certain Daniel Dubois (Queensberry) vs Filip Hrgovic (Match hall). Like Wilder vs. Zhang, this fight has already been written on the card.
One wonders why Hrgovic and his mandatory shot at the title he’s been waiting for forever would take a risk like Dubois (20-2, 19 KO) when he could just sit and wait, but the economics and politics of the heavyweight division in particular are changing quickly, and the Saudis basically control the whole thing.
There is, of course, also a chance that the IBF – the only one of the four main sanctioning bodies that even pretends to follow its rules – will strip the winner of the Fury vs. Usyk match for his apparent lack of intention to fight Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KO) and that two weeks after crowning the undisputed heavyweight champion, we will no longer have him. Hrgovic vs Dubois could end in a vacant IBF title fight.
Medium weight
Warren’s other choice is middleweight. It’s worth noting that both Hearn and Warren repeat the word “domestic”, meaning British fighters, as they are both obviously British promoters. The ‘domestic’ British fighting going on in Saudi Arabia is fun, but it’s a fresh reality as both want to ride the wave of Saudi money for as long as possible; it’s bad enough that two guys who have barely wanted to work together for years were laughing and joking at a press conference like they had been buddies for decades.
But Hearn has a chance to throw an American in here if he can choose Austin “Ammo” Williams represent Matchroom in a potentially great ‘rising star’ matchup with Queensberry’s Hamzah Sheeraz. The 24-year-old Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KO) and the 27-year-old Williams (16-0, 11 KO) would be a phenomenal fight.
Lesser alternative: a rematch between Matchroom’s Felix Cash and Queensberry’s Denzel Bentley. Cash had the best night of his career, beating Bentley over three rounds in 2021, and then all but disappeared from the conversation. Bentley is coming off a depressing defeat to Nathan Heaney. Cash hasn’t been reliable lately, but he could be in the conversation as a make-or-break moment for him and Matchroom.
Minor alternative: Queensberry’s James Heneghan (10-0, 1 KO) prospects against Mark Dickinson (6-0, 2 KO) or Matchroom’s George Liddard (9-1, 1 KO). It doesn’t really seem to be up to the desired level of spectacle, but “everything changes” from paper to reality in boxing, so you have to be prepared.
Lightweight heavyweight
175 has a few options, but there are only a few matchups that seem to match the level this fight is supposedly going to be, and both include Antoni Yarde representing Queensberry.
Yarde has expressed a desire to face Joshua Buatsi next, and Buatsi is now a Boxxer fighter. However, I think Yarde will get the Queensberry call here and the Buatsi vs Yarde fight simply won’t happen.
Expect Yarde to take on Matchroom’s Craig Richards. Richards (18-3-1, 11 KO) has lost his last two significant fights, but Hearn and Matchroom could see a fight in favorable style with the wily Richards against Yarde (25-3, 24 KO), who showed some fresh technical skills and tactical wrinkles during his last appearance. Callum Smith, coming off a brutal defeat to Artur Beterbiev in January, could represent Matchroom, but Richards seems the more likely choice.
A lesser alternative: a promising fight between Karol Itauma (12-1, 7 KO) from Queensberry and John Hedges from Matchroom (9-0, 3 KO).
Featherweight
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Photo: Luxurious Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
We could see a world title fight with this, and I don’t think Hearn would have chosen this division if he didn’t believe that’s what he would bring to the table.
Raymond Ford he had just won the WBA title on March 2 on the Top Rank card, defeating Otabek Kholmatov in the 12th round. Ford (15-0-1, 8 KO) said after the fight that he might have to move up to 130 pounds, but he still has the belt and all that, and realistically, the bigger money for him is staying at 126 if he does. is it at all possible to maintain this lane.
The problem is that no one from the Queensberry stable is currently in the top fifteen of the WBA rankings. But that can change, and quite reasonably, if the insert stays that way Nick Ballwho had just drawn against WBC titleholder Rey Vargas.
Ball wasn’t actually listed in the WBA rankings – which is a joke, like all of the organization’s sanctioning rankings – because he was the mandatory challenger for the WBC and was fighting for their belt. Putting Ball in front of star players like Dominique Jamar Francis and Arnold Khegai wouldn’t be included on the absurd decision-making scale of sanctioning body rankings. Mauricio Lara is still in the WBA top 15 and doesn’t even fight in the division anymore, and Stephen Fulton Jr. is in second place. 3 despite the lack of relevant fights in the division.
Ball (19-0-1, 11 KO) is desperate for another title shot, and Warren is desperate to give him one. This would be a solution and a good match. Watching the ball is also very fun.
Lesser alternative: Hopey Price (12-0, 5 KO) from Matchroom will face Nathaniel Collins (14-0, 7 KO) from Queensberry, holder of the British and Commonwealth titles.
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