Turki Al-al Sheikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, has announced his intention to host a card pitting Queensberry vs Matchroom against each other.
Al-al Sheikh spoke prior to the announcement of Knockout Chaos featuring Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou later this year. He said his desire was to have 5 of Frank Warren’s best boxers against 5 of Eddie Hearn’s best boxer.
Both Matchroom Boxing and Queensberry Promotions enjoy their status as the top two promoters in the UK. The rivalry between Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn had been set aside to make co-promoted shows in Saudi Arabia. The promoters had infamously never spoke prior to the Day of Reckoning show last year, but now appear to have further co-promotional plans beyond Joshua vs Ngannou.
Boxing promoters Frank Warren of Queensberry and Eddie Hearn of Matchroom both greeted the idea of a match-up warmly. The pair shook hands at the press conference and have both spoken to boxing media outlets confirming their intention to press ahead with the idea.
The concept of the show will feature 5 boxers across different weight divisions competing against adversaries from their promotional rival. There’s also talk of further incentivising the boxers with win bonuses, and a possible bonus for the overall winner. Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn also indicated some documentary-style programming in a similar vein to Ultimate Fighter could feature too.
There has already been early talk of possible matchups online. Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua would be the marquee bout between the two promotions, although that is a stand alone event in itself.
Eddie Hearn has floated the idea of these possible matchups taking place as part of the event:
Skye Nicolson vs Raven Chapman
Shabaz Masoud vs Liam Davies
Nathaniel Collins vs Hopey Price
Nick Ball vs Raymond Ford
Liam Smith vs Anthony Yarde
Whether these bouts are sufficient to act as a blockbuster PPV is questionable. Eddie Hearn has mentioned the possibility of doubling the bill to 10 vs 10 so the format is likely to see some further changes in the coming months.
Queensberry vs Matchroom, or Matchroom vs Queensberry is due some time in 2024. The next Riyadh Season will begin in late Autumn 2024 so any date after this is possible. There has been no mention of holding the event in the UK.
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