Boxing Putting It's Best Foot Forward

The sport of boxing has found itself very much under the bright lights over the last few days without a punch even being thrown.

On Saturday evening we put on our best bib and tucker and headed to Greenwich and the Old Royal Naval College for an event, I think I am probably right in saying, we haven’t seen the likes of before in our game.

It was an astonishing spectacle and to witness so many greats under one painted roof was something of an almost surreal experience.

The occasion, of course, was the inaugural Ring Magazine Awards gala dinner and, in my opinion, our fighters in our sport deserve this sort of recognition. It will also be great to have the Ring Magazine back firing on all cylinders again and returning to print editions dropping through the letterbox.

Thanks to H.E. Turki taking over the reins at this treasured institution, this part of our boxing heritage has been preserved and long may this continue.

Boxing is very much playing out in the mainstream of global sport once again and the key protagonists were in London to be recognised for their memorable accomplishments.

I was delighted that Queensberry fighters featured strongly, with Daniel Dubois showing his obvious delight over winning ‘Knockout of the Year’ for his triumph over Anthony Joshua.

Daniel was a true success story right across 2024 and he currently represents both the present and future of the heavyweight division.

Moses Itauma also scooped first place in the ‘Prospect of the Year’ category and I shouldn’t imagine this one took much debate. Where Moses is at after just 11 fights at the age of 20 is testament to his incredible natural talent and huge dedication to his craft.

We are blessed here in Britain to have such a stock of fearsome and fearless young heavyweights, such as Daniel and Moses, competing at such a high level already.

From a personal point of view, I would have liked to have seen Nick Ball be rewarded for his 2024, where he fought in three world title fights and became WBA world featherweight champion. I am certain, however, that his time will come.

On Monday it was back into town on boxing business for the media event ahead of the February 22 Riyadh Season special dubbed by many as potentially the greatest card of all time.

Your memory can play tricks on you - especially at my time of life… - but I honestly cannot recall a card like this top to bottom. I think in the past we have had cards featuring many big name fighters, but not in such hugely competitive match-ups as we’ve got to look forward to here.

The big light heavyweight showdown between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitrii Bivol speaks for itself because you cannot get bigger than undisputed between the top two in the division.

From a Queensberry perspective, it is a massive night for us, with Daniel defending his IBF world title against Joseph Parker in a fight so many people were calling for. It just won’t fail to deliver the goods.

We are also right behind Hamzah Sheeraz in his bid to become WBC world middleweight champion when he takes on the holder Carlos Adames in what is a tough, tough assignment.

That being said, this is a fight we firmly believe he can win and fulfil his destiny of becoming a world champion. My own feeling is that it will be the first of several weights he can conquer.

We’ve also got a heavyweight showdown for the WBC Interim world title between the Big Bang, Zhilei Zhang and the excellent Agit Kaybayel. The winner will be right in line to take on Oleksandr Usyk or to jump into his WBC boots, should he vacate.

It really is going to be a compelling night over in Riyadh that I am sure fans will be glued to from start to finish, it is that good. Almost like a game of Fantasy Boxing.