The season came to London on a star-studded evening at the home of English sport in Riyadh.

The glamour that accompanied numerous performances in Riyadh and last month in Los Angeles has been transferred to Wembley Stadium.

Thousands of people packed Trafalgar Square for the weigh-ins and on Saturday night a massive crowd of 98,128 packed the legendary venue (has anyone seen Carl Froch, ha ha) to witness a six-fight event headlined by the heavyweights themselves (more on that later) before a pair of British heavyweights took to the main stage.

Before the IBF heavyweight title fight, few gave Daniel Dubois much chance of beating Anthony Joshua. The defending champion was priced at 11/4 (+275), and in the Fight Picks I put together for The Ring, only one (shout out to Duke McKenzie) of 20 experts chose DDD.

A few years ago there were rumors of them sparring. As usual, venerable stories from the gym were everywhere, some suggesting that AJ directed the event while others said Dubois did very well and even knocked Joshua down. But as they say, sparring is sparring, it’s a whole different story when they actually get in there.

Dubois entered first and looked a little apprehensive, while Joshua entered looking at home, tranquil and prepared for what was about to happen.

It proved pointless, Dubois was keen from the start and dominated with his precise jab, while Joshua was perhaps too confident and looked too relaxed, his guard low and effortless to hit. In the dying seconds of the first round, a powerful right hook connected with Joshua and knocked him down. Joshua scrambled to his feet and the bell intervened before more punches could be landed.

A minute of rest wasn’t enough, and Dubois pounced early in Round 2. While Joshua will have to deal with some naysayers, the one thing he can’t be criticized for is his heart, which he showed in abundance on Saturday. Despite being caught multiple times and having his legs wobbly, he managed to stay upright.

The tide turned in the final seconds of the third round as Dubois landed a left hook that AJ missed, the popular Brit’s legs danced and Dubois lunged again. Joshua put both gloves on the mat and the count began, but referee Marcus McDonnell was behind both fighters and didn’t see the try so he let the action continue. A few more unanswered punches landed and Joshua slumped to the mat. Again, the bell probably saved him.

As round 4 began, Dubois ran across the ring and scored a third knockdown. The end seemed inevitable. To Joshua’s credit, he fought bravely.

In Round 5 Joshua finally landed three powerful right hooks that forced Dubois to retreat, but as quickly as the miraculous comeback had occurred Dubois ended the fight with a devastating right hook that landed as Joshua landed a wide hook. AJ was knocked down for the fourth and final time. This time he was unable to get back to his feet and was counted out at 0.59.

EVERYTHING IS OVER🔥🔥🔥#RiyadhSeasonal Card:Wembley Edition#JoshuaDubois | Live NOW https://t.co/FoiaUucafv: Click link in bio to purchase | @turk_alalshikh photo: twitter.com/zZEm2Vufy9

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 21, 2024

Dubois landed 79 of 196 punches, for an impressive 40.3 percent success rate. Joshua landed 32 of 117 punches, for a 27.4 percent success rate. The younger man’s jab landed 30 of 100 punches, while Joshua landed 18 of 82 punches, for a 22 percent success rate.

Joshua (28-4, 25 knockouts) hinted at a rematch in his post-fight interview. But it was so one-sided it doesn’t make sense. Perhaps Joshua, 34, could come back, but he’s made a fortune and you wonder if he has the desire to climb the mountain again. He later said he does, but time will tell.

Meanwhile, Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs), who has enjoyed a pretty solid year with wins over Jarrell Miller (TKO 10) and Filip Hrgovic (TKO 8), now has his biggest scalp to date. He mentioned unified Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk, but they fought just over a year ago and I’d like to see him win a fight or two more before I look at that option. A fight with one of the others who impressed in Riyadh Season, namely Joseph Parker, Zhilei Zhang, Agit Kabayel or, in my opinion, Martin Bakole, would be nice.

Tyson Fury, who shares the same promoter as Dubois, did not share his teammates’ joy.

“It cost me £150 million!” 😅🤣

Tyson Fury’s immediate reaction to AJ’s knockout 🤑#JoshuaDubois photo:twitter.com/PeraMGLrHD

— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) September 22, 2024

There was a lot of talk about the preliminary card. We saw Mark Chamberlain strip publicly. The Ring’s No. 9-ranked lightweight was highly rated but was soundly defeated by Josh Padley. This is a potentially life-changing win for Padley, who could be looking for bigger things in the future. Maybe he’ll go back to his usual 130 and attract a lot more attention now, or maybe he’ll face Sam Noakes at 135. Chamberlain is back to the drawing board, having looked parched at that weight. Maybe he’ll stay at lightweight or try out for junior welterweight. Either way, the shine has worn off.

Josh Kelly defeated tardy sub Ismail Davis in a middleweight fight. It wasn’t the most stimulating fight, we’ll see and both will return to 154.

Anthony Cacace continued his impressive run of form by defeating Josh Warrington in 12 rounds. Many were dismayed that the IBF didn’t sanction the fight, but if they didn’t see fit to put Warrington in their top 15, that’s their prerogative. Cacace, at 35, is enjoying something of an Indian summer in his career. He now faces tough mandatory Eduardo Nunez. While Warrington, who has lost his last three fights and is now 33, seems to be a bit of a shake-up. He was an above-average fighter who enjoyed a very productive career.

In a delicate heavyweight fight between two Ring-ranked fighters, Buatsi, No. 4, twice knocked down Hutchinson, No. 9, who also had a point deduction. The judges gave a couple of odd scores. One judge inexplicably gave it to Hutchinson, another was too generous to Buatsi, giving him a huge advantage, while the third, in my opinion, was right to score it 115-110, which worked out to 7-5 rounds with two 10-8 knockdowns, plus a point deduction. Hutchinson is youthful and may follow in Dubois’ footsteps, learning from his losses and rebounding from them. Buatsi, a 2016 Olympian, has been a pro for seven years. Rumor has it that he turned down a fight with WBA ruler Dmitry Bivol, saying he wasn’t ready. That fight was for the WBO interim title, so you’d think he’s only a fight or two away from fighting the winner of Bivol-Artur Beterbiev. If he’s not ready now, he never will be.

Middleweight phenomenon Hamzah Sheeraz continued his march to the top of the division, defeating the usually solid Tyler Denny to add the European title to his growing collection of belts. Sheeraz is ready for anyone, and I would put him as the favorite over any middleweight not named Janibek Alimkhanuly.

This year, three more shows are scheduled for Riyadh:

Then, on October 12, Riyadh Season returns home for the undisputed delicate heavyweight title fight between Beterbiev and Bivol, which here is the best fight in boxing, with the vacant Ring Magazine title on the line.

Then it will be Golden Boy’s time to shine on November 16 when they host “Latino Night” in Riyadh, with WBA cruiserweight champion Gilberto Ramirez and WBO titleholder Chris Billam-Smith playing a central role in their unification.

The year will end with Usyk, the WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion, and Tyson Fury, who will return on December 21.

While some aspects of the show may not be to everyone’s taste, there is no doubt that we are witnessing some of the best fighters in the world fighting on the biggest stage possible, with some of the biggest and most pioneering platforms ever seen in boxing.

A trio of women’s world title fights are the main attractions this week, including two on Friday — Alycia Baumgardner vs. Delfine Persoon for the WBC junior lightweight title, Sandy Ryan vs. Mikaela Mayer for the WBO welterweight title — and Rhiannon Dixon vs. Terri Harper on Saturday for the WBO lightweight title.

Let’s take a look at these fights and many more on this week’s TV offerings.

Friday, September 27: Sandy Ryan vs. Mikaela Mayer (ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+)

Sandy Ryan holds one welterweight title, but he could just as easily be the lineal champion.

The 31-year-old from Derby, England, took the vacant WBO belt in April 2023 after it was stripped from Jessica McCaskill. Five months later, Ryan challenged lineal champion McCaskill for a draw, although some thought Ryan deserved to win. McCaskill lost her throne to Lauren Price. And now several 147-pounders are vying for the title of queen.

Ryan is among them. In March of this year, she stopped Terri Harper to move to 7-1-1 (3 KOs), with her only loss coming in 2022, in Ryan’s fourth pro fight, a split decision to Erica Anabella Farias. Ryan won an immediate rematch with Farias via unanimous decision.

Mayer, a 34-year-old from the United States, is 19-2 (5 KOs). She turned pro after competing in the 2016 Olympics and became the unified junior lightweight champion. After losing to Alycia Baumgardner in a three-fight fight at 130 pounds in 2022, Mayer moved up a weight class. She has made one appearance each at lightweight (decision win over Lucy Wildheart) and junior welterweight (points win over Silvia Bortot).

In January, Mayer moved up to welterweight and lost a split decision to IBF titleholder Natasha Jonas. This will be Mayer’s second shot at the 147 belt.

The main event at Madison Square Garden Theater will feature separate fights between Xander Zayas and Bruce Carrington.

Zayas is a junior middleweight prospect from San Juan, Puerto Rico, currently residing in Sunrise, Florida. He signed with Top Rank at age 16, turned pro shortly after his 17th birthday, and is now 19-0 (12 KOs) at age 22. He won a unanimous decision over Patrick Teixeira in June.

Zayas will face Damian Sosa, a 27-year-old from Tijuana, Mexico, who is 25-2 (12 KOs). Sosa lost a unanimous decision to Ivan Alvarez (31-14-4) in April 2023, but has won three straight fights since then, including a split decision in April over previously unbeaten Marques Valle.

Carrington is a 12-0 (8 KO) featherweight. This will be his third fight of 2024. The 27-year-old Brooklyn native knocked out Bernardo Angelo Torres in four rounds in February and Brayan De Gracia in eight rounds in June. This will be Carrington’s third straight fight in this arena — will his streak continue?

Standing in his way is Sulaiman Segawa, 33, a native of Kampala, Uganda, who currently lives just outside Washington, D.C. Segawa has a 17-4-1 (6 KO) record and has been vigorous this year, losing on points to Mirco Cuello in March and then scoring a decisive victory over Ruben Villa in July.

Friday, September 27: Alycia Baumgardner vs. Delfine Persoon (Brinx.TV and Fubo Sports)

While Baumgardner is surprisingly the undisputed junior lightweight champion — more on that in a moment — this fight is only for her WBC and lineal world titles and will take place at the Trilith Studios Town Stage in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Baumgardner, a 30-year-old from Detroit, won the WBC belt in 2021 by defeating Terri Harper in four rounds. After a tidy sweep of Edith Soledad Matthysse, Baumgardner won two more titles by defeating Mikaela Mayer by split decision in October 2022. Less than four months later, Baumgardner was the undisputed champion, defeating Elhem Mekhaled on points to add the vacant WBA belt to her collection.

Then controversy arose.

In July 2023, Baumgardner won a unanimous decision rematch with Christina Linardatou, avenging her 2018 split decision loss to Linardatou. But Baumgardner he was later found to have a prohibited substance.

She has not fought since. The WBC has said Baumgardner did not intentionally exploit the substance. The other sanctioning bodies (IBF, WBA and WBO) still have Baumgardner as the titleholder. The result was not changed by the Michigan Boxing Commission, so Baumgardner is still 15-1 (7 KOs).

Persoon, a 39-year-old from Belgium, is 49-3 (19 KOs). She was a longtime lightweight, holding major titles at 135 in 2012 and then from 2014 to 2019. Persoon made nine successful defenses before losing a majority decision to Katie Taylor for the undisputed championship. Their rematch took place 14 months later in August 2020, and this time Taylor won by unanimous decision.

Since then, Persoon has reeled off five straight wins, all at junior lightweight, with one draw that could have easily been ruled a disqualification loss, as Persoon hit the lying Ikram Kerwat.

According to BoxRec, the show will feature only female boxers, with eight fights scheduled.

Friday 27 September: Charlie Edwards vs Thomas Essomba (Channel 5)

The fight at the York Hall in London will take place between former flyweight titleholder Charlie Edwards and Essomba, who managed by former flyweight champion Clear Edwards — Charlie’s younger brother.

Charlie defeated Cristofer Rosales for the WBC title in 2018. Two fights later, he was knocked down in the third round by Julio Cesar Martinez, then knocked down again while he was on the board. Martinez was originally considered the winner, but that result was eventually overturned. Charlie soon relinquished the title, saying he could no longer make the 112-pound limit.

Indeed, he has fought mostly in the bantamweight division since then, with four wins giving the 31-year-old from Surrey, England, a record of 19-1 (7 KOs).

Essomba, 36, hails from Cameroon and currently fights out of Sheffield, England. He has a record of 13-8-1 (4 KOs), with one of those losses coming in 2020 to Clear Edwards. Since then, Essomba has a record of 3-2-1, including a split decision in February over 14-1 Elie Konki.

Friday, September 27: Shakiel Thompson vs. River Wilson-Bent (DAZN)

Thompson (12-0, 8 KOs) is a middleweight prospect from Sheffield, England, who will be making his hometown debut at the Park Community Arena. This is the 27-year-old’s third fight of 2024. In February, he stopped 11-5-3 Gino Kanters in three rounds, then came back in April with an eighth-round knockout of 12-3 Vladimir Georgiev.

Wilson-Bent, a 30-year-old from Coventry, England, is 17-4-2 (7 KOs), which could be quite the test for Thompson. Wilson-Bent has been there with a number of recognizable names, fighting to a technical draw with Tyler Denny in 2021, losing a split decision rematch with Denny in 2022, being stopped in two rounds by Hamzah Sheeraz in 2022, stopped in eight by Austin “Ammo” Williams in 2023 and defeated on points by Ryan Kelly last October. Since then, Wilson-Bent is 2-0-1 against nondescript opponents.

Saturday, September 28: Rhiannon Dixon vs. Terri Harper (DAZN)

Dixon vs. Harper became the main event after two separate fights fell through due to injuries.

Newborn welterweight Dalton Smith was forced to withdraw from his fight with Jon Fernandez at the Utilita Arena Sheffield, then modern headliner, heavyweight Johnny Fisher, was injured and unable to continue his fight with Andriy Rudenko at the Copper Box Arena in London.

So we return to Sheffield, to the Park Community Arena, for the Dixon v Harper fight.

Dixon (10-0, 1 KO), 29, won the vacant WBO lightweight title in April with a unanimous decision victory over Karen Elizabeth Carbajal.

Harper (14-2-2, 6 KOs), 27, is a former junior lightweight titleholder who drew with Natasha Jonas in 2020 and was stopped by Alycia Baumgardner in 2021. She then moved up to junior middleweight and won the WBA belt in 2022 by defeating Hannah Rankin, drew with Cecilia Braekhus in 2023 with the vacant WBO title on the line, and was stopped in four rounds by WBO welterweight titleholder Sandy Ryan in March of this year.

Saturday, September 28: Ardian Krasniqi vs. Saul Ivan Male (DAZN)

Krasniqi is a delicate heavyweight prospect from Rottweil, Germany, who will headline the evening at the Ludwigsburg MHP Arena. The 28-year-old is 9-0 (9 KOs) and has only faced one opponent with more wins than he has lost, a 15-10 first-round knockout of Denis Altz in September 2023.

Male will be the second such opponent. The 30-year-old is 10-1-1 (1 KO). This will be Male’s first fight outside of Uganda. He last defeated Stephen Nyamhanga (3-0-1) on points in April.

Promoter Frank Warren has said he will not push for a fight between Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois given that both heavyweights are in his stable and any fight between them would put him in an “awkward position”.

Dubois defended his IBF belt with a devastating fifth-round knockout victory over Anthony Joshua in London on Saturday, silencing any doubters and cementing his place as one of the best fighters in his weight class.

The 27-year-old surprised Joshua with a first-round knockdown in front of 96,000 fans, then boxed his opponent to finish the fight in round 5.

Asked if he thought Dubois could fight Fury, who will have a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh on December 21, Warren replied: “I’ll tell you honestly, I would be in a very, very awkward position, but if that’s what they want and the business requires, that’s their business.

“It’s not something I would push for. If an offer comes along that makes sense, that’s their call.”

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has called for a rematch, which Warren said he’s open to. However, he was adamant that there’s no strenuous and swift clause for an immediate rematch, and Dubois will call the shots.

“They can have it if they want it,” Warren said. “I think it’s something to consider. Absolutely, everything is on the table. We’ll work it out and see what’s best for Daniel. We’re in the Daniel Dubois business, the IBF business, and we’ll see what’s best.”

Dubois was celebrating his victory until slow last night and while he admitted he is open to a rematch, he also has his eye on Fury and another fight with Usyk, who he lost to last year.

“Everybody said I was going to get knocked out, we all saw who got knocked out. I’m glad I proved everybody wrong, but this is the beginning of my journey,” Dubois said. “They [Fury and Usyk] are my goals now; I want to get revenge [against Usyk] and right what is wrong.

“I feel like a champ, I’m going to hold this lane and keep this train moving.”