Riyadh Ready To Rock

By Frank Warren

OUT HERE IN Riyadh the party has well and truly started.

The anticipation and atmosphere is building with each set piece event, with the Grand Arrivals and media workouts already completed and there is huge excitement over what will surely be an absolutely compelling night of boxing on Friday.

The good folks at Riyadh Season, along with our own team, who are now working in tandem for a third time, have really got things running like clockwork on the ground. For the rest of us, once again, it has all been about late, late nights and plotting what comes next and beyond for boxing’s new and thrilling destination.

In my last column I placed the spotlight on the key undercard fights featuring Queensberry’s own Nick Ball, who challenges for the WBC world featherweight title against Rey Vargas, plus Mark Chamberlain going up against Gavin Gwynne.

So now it is the turn of the heavy mob, with two massive collisions from the blue riband division taking centre stage on Friday.

First up is the intriguing clash between our man Zhilei Zhang and, some would say, the form horse of the division, Joseph Parker.

Zhilei would have been in the Riyadh mix sooner were it not for injury, but he gets his chance now and defends his WBO Interim world title against a man who fought four times across 2023 and is now back in the ring again.

Activity is always key and Joseph has reaped the benefits, but sometimes you can take on one too many training camps and it can have an effect you do not find out about until you step under the lights once more.

His performance against Deontay Wilder last time out was mightily impressive, but you have to say the Bronze Bomber was firing blanks on the night and was just not at the races.

I can guarantee Zhilei will be launching bombs and I would imagine that Joseph will adopt a cagey approach and will be banking on our man’s battery running low later in the fight.

Zhilei really made the world sit up and take notice of the threat he presents to the heavyweight elite across two fights with Joe Joyce and he is extremely confident heading into this one.

He is an accurate and hurtful puncher, who is economical in his work in that he doesn’t waste many shots that would sap his energy levels. If Zhilei successfully comes through this one he will add the label of mandatory challenger to his status of Interim champion and he will get the chance to become the full WBO champion before this year is out.

So there is lots at stake for this charming giant of a man.

On the subject of giants, I have noted that more and more people are hedging their bets where the chances of Francis Ngannou are concerned.

There is genuine intrigue now heading into his second professional fight against Anthony Joshua following his exploits against Tyson Fury back in October.

Nobody gave him a prayer going up against Tyson and the match was ridiculed by many from the moment it was announced. Francis showed that he is a man who shouldn’t be underestimated and I am certain that AJ is acutely aware of the threat he presents.

The massive advantage AJ enjoys, of course, is experience and if he uses his knowhow to good effect he can make it a very uncomfortable night for the boxing interloper. In theory.

AJ and his team have got the 10 rounds of evidence on which to base their tactical approach, but what we don’t know is how much Francis might have improved since his tussle with Tyson.

Most people thought Francis would attempt to roughhouse Tyson but, to the surprise of pretty much all of all, he adopted a patient, thoughtful approach and, truth be told, he shaped up pretty well for a fistic novice.

Will he change things up this time around? Will he look to land big and take the fight out of AJ?

There is a school of thought that AJ might look to stay on the outside and keep out of harm’s way like he did in the second fight against Andy Ruiz. That is an option, but a hulking Francis hunting you down is very different from an out-of-shape Ruiz still hungover from his first night success against the then undefeated world champion.

My thinking is that AJ needs to set a sharp tempo and discourage Francis with snappy combinations that he won’t have encountered before.

I am backing the Brit to prevail, not least because I would love to see him and Tyson get it on at some point soon. I don’t think it will be a smooth operation and I do suspect there will be some turbulence for AJ along the way, but I also reckon we are in for a cracker that will live long in the memory.