The Riyadh Return

We are back at the ANB Arena in Riyadh on Saturday, the current epicentre of world boxing, with a Queensberry-heavy card that I am certain will deliver the goods.

It was always only going to be a matter of time before our young heavyweight sensation Moses Itauma was in headline action in Riyadh.

I never like to get too carried away or build up unrealistic expectations around young fighters, but there is no escaping it with Moses. In my opinion, he has got it all and, over time, he will become a heavyweight great. Up there with the best of them.

Aged just 20 and with only a dozen professional fights under his belt, the strides forward and progress he has made so far has been remarkable.

How Moses looks in this fight against a true warrior like Dillian will dictate our thinking when it comes to plotting his route forward.

The level he is now operating at is worth noting. Given his age there are always obvious comparisons made with Mike Tyson back in the mid-eighties, who remains the youngest world heavyweight champion on record, something Moses was tempted to try and emulate at one point.

In fight No. 13 here tonight in Riyadh, Moses is going up against a former world title challenger in Dillian, a tried and tested contender, with major names on his resume.

Contrast this with Tyson. In his 13th fight he took on Conroy Nelson, who held a record of 15-7-2 and ended his career in deficit, with a final score of 21-24-2.

Tyson had his first title fight, albeit for world honours, in fight No.28 when he demolished Trevor Berbick in the second round. Moses was in title action in his ninth fight and it is highly unlikely he will wait until he has 28 fights on his clock before fighting for a world title.

So some perspective is called for.

Dillian is what I would call a proper fighter. The toughest of the tough who is a match for anybody. Truth be told, nobody wanted to fight Moses out here, but Dillian put his hand up.

The simple reason is, he believes he will win and put a dent in the Moses machine. If he does so he will be right back in the game, high in the rankings and plenty more big nights beckoning.

That is what is at stake for Dillian and I think we are in for something special.

Special is a word that I would also use to describe Nick Ball, our WBA world featherweight champion, who is fighting in Riyadh for a third time against the unbeaten Australian Sam Goodman.

I couldn’t rate Nick any higher, both as a fighter and as a person. He is a real fighter who delivers entertainment every time he steps into the ring.

Nick deserves the marquee, blockbuster fights and we will get them for him if he overcomes a tricky challenge from Sam.

In more Queensberry heavyweight action, we’ve got a humdinger in prospect when leading contender Filip Hrgovic goes up against David Adeleye, who obviously became British champion in his last fight.

David could have defended the title in a rematch, but he was thinking big and wanted a major challenge. That is what he will get from Filip, who impressed last time out beating Joe Joyce at short notice.

The winner of this one will be closing right in on the top end of the rankings and will be in contention for a world title shot.

Elsewhere on the card I am looking forward to seeing Ray Ford back in action again against Abraham Nova, plus the Japanese talent Hayato Tsutsumi going up against British Olympian Qais Ashfaq.

You can book the fights and watch all the action unfold on DAZN from 5.45pm.