Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn have this week submitted their picks for the next Matchroom v Queensberry 5v5 event.
After years of feuding, Britain’s two leading promoters put their stables against each other on June 1 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh last year.
But it was a night to forget for Hearn and Matchroom, as they lost all five contests to Warren and Queensberry who left the Saudi capital with a 10-0 scoreline and a $3 million win bonus.
Now it looks as though Hearn will get the chance for revenge this summer as both he and Warren have drawn up an initial draft list of 10 fighters each, which will then be whittled down into the best available five fights.
Those lists, the Ring has learned, were submitted on Tuesday to HE Turki Al-Alshikh, who will now decide which five fights to make for the second edition of the 5vs5 format.
“We have submitted our list of 10 vs 10, rather than 5 vs 5,” Hearn told The Ring on Tuesday.
“We were asked by His Excellency to submit the plans for a 5 vs 5 which we have now done. We will await on his recommendations and choices to move that forward in the summer.”
Hearn and Warren were both speaking at DAZN’s London HQ, as Queensberry prepare to join Matchroom on the streaming platform permanently from April 1, meaning the next 5vs5 will be a key part of the new schedule.
The format proved to be a hit last year, although it was not at all competitive in the end. Queensberry trio Zhilei Zhang, Daniel Dubois and Hamzah Sheeraz all racked up inside distance wins, against Deontay Wilder, Filip Hrgovic and Austin Williams respectively.
There were further victories for Warren’s men at featherweight and light-heavy, with Nick Ball beating Raymond Ford on a split and Willy Hutchinson outpointing Craig Richards.