The Riyadh Season show on February 22 in Saudi Arabia – billed as the “The Last Crescendo” – is being heralded as the greatest boxing fight card ever assembled.
Topping the event is the undisputed light heavyweight title rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. In the co-main event slot, IBF heavyweight titleholder Daniel Dubois defends his belt for the first time against Joseph Parker. Other matchups include Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov, Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz, and Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel.
Preceding the co-main event will be Shakur Stevenson’s WBC lightweight title defense against Floyd Schofield Jr.
Stevenson is confident that he’s the star of the stacked show.
“No disrespect to them guys, but I’m the best fighter [on the card]. I’m what everyone wants to see on that card,” Stevenson said on DAZN’s “On the Ground” series. “A lot of people said they’re not going to wake up at a certain time [to watch the fight] and all that stuff. But everybody is going to be watching that sh-t. Everybody is going to want to see Shakur. A lot of people act like Shakur isn’t must-see TV, but I'm must-see TV. I’m the best fighter in boxing. Everyone wants to see me. Everybody wants to watch me. They’re going to keep paying attention.”
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) will be making his Matchroom Boxing debut and is fighting for the first time since scoring a unanimous decision against Artem Harutyunyan in July. The Newark, New Jersey native was originally supposed to fight in October against Joe Cordina, but a hand injury derailed his date.
“It’s been a rocky couple of months,” said Stevenson. “It just seems that a lot of people are counting me out. They talk bad about me. They act like I’m not this person that I’ve been my whole life. So, f--- them. Mentally, it starts to bother me but then you start to realize that the only thing that really matters is the people that care about you.”
Stevenson, a three-division champion and The Ring’s No. 3 rated lightweight, is unbothered by the challenges the upstart Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) could present.
“He's a young lion who is hungry and undefeated. Truthfully, I guess you can say there is more to it,” said Stevenson. “This is going to be the best version of me. I think I am going to whoop some ass this year starting with Kid Austin. Hopefully everything will go right so all of my dreams come true.”
Manouk Akopyan is a lead writer for The Ring. He can be reached on X and Instagram @ManoukAkopyan.