Promoter Eddie Hearn and His Excellency Turki Alalshikh have revealed that they have a card planned for February 22 for the Riyadh Season event. Matchroom promoter Hearn hasn’t said who will headline, but he says it’s the “Best card yet.”
For it to be the “best” it has to involve one of Hearn’s top guys. Shakur Stevenson is supposed to fight in February, so he would be the obvious fighter to get the pick. Shakur is supposed to return from hand surgery to defend against William Zepeda in February.
It will be a fun battle to see how Shakur handles this human buzzsaw. Stevenson isn’t a big star, so it doesn’t fit for him to be part of the card that Hearn is talking about. This has to be one of Hearn’s big guns.
It is safe to say that Matchroom flagship fighter Anthony Joshua will not fight as he will need more time to recover from his recent knockout loss to Daniel Dubois. February is too soon for Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch to be rescheduled.
Hearn’s fighter, Bivol, lost, and he will have to rebuild before getting back at his conqueror, Beterbiev.
Turki Alalshikh: “Eddie, are you ready for the card in February?”
Eddie Hearn: “I think on February 22 this is the best card so far for the Riyadh season.”
Turki: “I hope so.”
Hear: “Let’s go.”
The way Turki said, “I hope so,” had an ominous ring to it. I may be reading something into this, but I got the impression that he wants Hearn to produce a quality card, especially regarding the main event.
We saw how badly it ended for Hearn’s fighter, Bivol, last Saturday night. Afterwards, when Bivol lost, Hearn did not show good sportsmanship, which tainted the fight’s outcome.
Hearn looked like he was about to blow a gasket after the fight. He was a textbook example of a sore loser. If you put a blood pressure cuff on Hearn, it probably would have been sky high in the 180/120 region. Get a grip, Hearn. Just because your fighter lost, you don’t have to go to pieces every time.
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) 19 October 2024
