[IMPORTANT: Make this 4 times longer with much more detail]
Boxing A Last Crescendo But Not The Last by Rich Mancuso February 23, 2025 Dmitry Bivol and his team celebrate his win – Image Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing NEW YORK, NY — This was billed as “The Last Crescendo” at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. An event that has been billed for months as the greatest in boxing history with a combination of major promoters. They said unity in making fights for the fans was their goal and that was accomplished. The Turki, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, Kings and Princes of Saudi Arabia as I say, have taken the boxing world by storm because of their money to lure in promoters. A boxing card that assembled promoters Frank Warren (Queensbury), Bob Arum (Top Rank Boxing, Eddie Hearn (Matchroom Boxing), and Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya (Golden Boy Promotions) — four of the major players with champions and the names. The champions and superstars of the sport, five title fights. It lived up to expectations and Dmitry Bivol had a masterful championship conclusion regaining the light heavyweight titles with a majority 12-round decision over Artur Beterbiev, avenging his loss when he lost his title with a controversial decision that took place four months ago in Riyadh. Image Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing The telecast was streamed on DAZN PPV and PPV.com to a world wide audience, a championship win for the sport. The Turki has made a deal with the pay-per-view distributors, a flat rate of $29.95 for fans to purchase. A contrast to shell out $80.00 to watch Canelo Alvarez, the face and industry leader who holds the titles at super middleweight. But this was different. Fights in different weight classes, with exception of two championship fights that led to different opponents who got the call days before arriving in Riyadh. For one evening boxing witnessed unity, fights were made, and there is hope for more like this. It certainly lived up to expectations even for fans waking up earlier in a majority of time zones in the United States and watching five or more hours of boxing. Image Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing Latinos represented in the ring, Vergil Ortiz Jr. (Mexican-American) successfully defended his WBC junior middleweight title and made a statement at being in position for a major title fight at 154. And Carlos Adames (Dominican Republic) retained his WBC Middleweight championship with a split draw that led to discussion. Implications of the Bivol win, perhaps but not anytime soon meeting David Benavidez (Mexican-American), the supposed mandatory and number one contender also will be discussed in months ahead. Bivol said it’s time to take a long rest. Beterbiev will be seeking a historic trilogy and no boxing fan will complain if they meet again because the first two fights were classics. Recaps of “The Last Crescendo” Beterbiev versus Bivol: The stage was set in October after their first fight that resulted in Beterbiev winning a narrow decision. Bivol sought vengeance when he left the ring that night in Riyadh after losing the unified titles. He asked for the rematch and in boxing it’s very rare to find a second fight made as rapid as this one was. This one, though, may have been better than the first. Bivol now has the IBF,WBC, WBO, WBA and IBO belts again after the majority decision that had judges scoring 114-114, 116-112, 115-113. The first score of a draw is understood as the fight was close, 115-113 is how this writer scored, 116-112 much too wide, then again this is boxing and how a judge at ringside saw it that way is difficult to understand. Bivol, the technician and using his jab to perfection, though in the first fight he failed to score points with the punches as many hit the gloves of Beterbiev instead of making contact. Bivol connected with 26 body shots through through five rounds and 24 landed, After taking the early rounds, Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs), of Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan, had to withstand an aggression from Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs), of Khasavyurt, Russia, that he did not show in their first meeting. He had a different strategy as Beterbiev slowed his approach in the first six rounds. Bivol landed 170 punches overall, a record for a Beterbiev opponent out-thrown by 140 punches. Power shots were near-even at 85-78 Bivol, but the new champion scored over 40 jabs more than his opponent. Image Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing “I’m just so happy. I went through a lot in the last year,” said Bivol. “Just me. I was better. I was pushing myself more. I was more confident, I was lighter, and I just wanted to win so much today. I want a little bit of rest because I had some injuries. I want to heal myself and then come back after.” Beterviev said this fight was better than the first one and it was time to come back, a hint he wants the third encounter. Certainly there is a possible trilogy in the making but logistics of where and when could force a long wait for a third fight. Benavidez earned his right as a mandatory after his win a few weeks ago. And Alvarez is always looking to avenge a light heavyweight defeat to Bivol. Time will tell where this goes but a trilogy will be in demand. Ortiz vs. Israil Madrimov: This fight was supposed to be the showstopper and it lived up to expectations, though not a classic and put Ortiz in position in a competitive junior middleweight division after his 12-round unanimous decision win and defending the WBC interim title. Terence Crawford, one of the pound-for-pound best, Sebastian Fundora is also possible pending his WBC, and WBO title defense on March 22. Image Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) remained undefeated with the decision (117-111, 115-113, 115-113) in a back-and-forth battle with former world champion Israil Madrimov (10-2-1, 7 KOs) of Khiva, Uzbekistan. Early in the fight Madrimov was able to frustrate Ortiz. He moved often, not allowing time for Ortiz to answer. Middle of the fight, Ortiz was able to settle in and force Madrimov into his style with powerful body punches. The remainder of the contest saw them with power shots and were toe-to-toe. Ortiz out-landed Madrimov 166-127, but the majority of the rounds saw both fighters separated by no more than four punches. Image Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing When asked who may be next for the champion at the top of the 154-pound division, Ortiz welcomed all challengers. “I just want to fight the best. I’ve never ducked anybody, no matter what anybody says.” Adamas versus Sheeraz: Carlos Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs) won a controversial split-decision draw with the highly touted Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) of Essex, U.K. and retained his title though controversial with the judges scoring. Image Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing While he maintained control of the fight using his height and reach in the early rounds, Sheeraz did not maintain a steady output of punches as the contest went on. After being out-landed by Sheeraz 34-20 over the first four rounds — mostly on the strength of his opponent’s jab, Adames responded by outlanding the challenger 123-101 over the next eight rounds. Scores were 115-114 for Sheeraz, 118-110 for Adames, and 114-114, a draw. Other Results: The heavyweight division got more interesting. In the co-main event former WBO titleholder Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) of Auckland, New Zealand, stopped the Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) of Kananaga, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the second round of a scheduled 12-rounder heavyweight for the interim WBO title. Image Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing Bakole stepped into the fight on short notice when IBF World Champion Daniel Dubois was forced to withdraw due to illness days before the scheduled bout. For Parker, a possible meeting with unified champion Oleksandr Usyk… Undefeated 27-year old Shakur Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) of Newark, N.J. and a prominent young star who signed a multi-fight deal with Matchroom, defended his WBC Lightweight Championship against contender Josh Padley (15-1, 4 KOs) of Yorkshire, U.K., who replaced Floyd Schofield due to illness with a ninth-round stoppage victory. Image Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing He displayed his entire arsenal of punches on Padley’s body in the second half of the fight after appearing to hurt his surgically repaired left hand. And Stevenson needed to put on a show as there is a potential mega fight with WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis. Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and contributor at LatinoSports.com – X: (@Ring 786), Facebook.com Rich Mancuso Rich Mancuso hosts Keep It In The Ring Thursday evening live 8pm ET. Latest boxing, pro wrestling, MMA talk and analysis. Subscribe to Rich Mancuso @YouTube and comment Related Topics Artur Beterbiev Bob Arum boxing Carlos Adames David Benavidez DAZN Dmitry Bivol Eddie Hearn featured Frank Warren Golden Boy Promotions Hamzah Sheeraz Israil Madrimov Joseph Parker Josh Padley Martin Bakole Matchroom Oleksandr Usyk Oscar De La Hoya Queensbury Riyadh season Saudi Arabia Shakur Stevenson. Top Rank Boxing Vergil Ortiz Jr. Click to comment Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. 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