Beterbiev vs Bivol 2 officially leads Feb. 22 Riyadh Season
Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov, Joshua Buatsi vs Callum Smith, and Shakur Stevenson vs Floyd Schofield have joined the undercard
Riyadh Season’s previously revealed February 22nd show is officially set, with Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 serving as the featured attraction.
“The Last Crescendo” has received some slight adjustments from last week’s report. Daniel Dubosi (22-2, 21 KO) vs Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KO), Carlos Adames (24-1, 18 KO) vs Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KO), and Zhilei Zhang (27-2-1, 22 KO) vs Agit Kabayel (25-0, 17 KO) are all a go, but as you may have heard, Vergil Ortiz Jr (22-0, 21 KO) vs Jaron Ennis is off after “Boots’” team allegedly demanded it take place at 147.
Instead, Ortiz will meet Israil Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KO) if Madrimov can get past Serhii Bohachuk unscathed later this month. Jake Donovan claims there’s a “contingency” in place should something arise and Xander Zayas had already accepted the bout, so we should see Ortiz one way or another.
In other newly revealed action, Joshua Buatsi (19-0, 13 KO) will battle Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KO) to crown Britain’s top light heavyweight and Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KO), previously slated to face William Zepeda before “El Camaron” suffered a hand injury, will face 22-year-old prospect Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KO).