Going 12 rounds with Vergil Ortiz Jr. six months ago gave Sergii Bohachuk a respectful perspective on the young, durable knockout artist.

The event will also feature champions, top contenders and rising stars competing on the undercard. The co-main event will have former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) meeting Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs), who stepped in on short notice once IBF champion Daniel Dubois was ruled out of the contest with illness. Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) will also put his WBC lightweight title up against Josh Padley (15-0, 4 KOs), another late replacement, once Floyd Schofield was forced to withdraw due to illness. Carlos Adames (24-1, 18 KOs) squares off with Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs) the WBC Middleweight title.

The final faceoff between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol was about as unremarkable Friday afternoon as all of their other promotional meetings leading up to their immediate rematch. Most important, of course, was that Beterbiev and Bivol came in at or below the light heavyweight limit for their second 12-round, 175-pound title fight Saturday night at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Beterbiev, 40, stepped on the British Boxing Board of Control’s scale at exactly 175 pounds, almost a full pound more than the 34-year-old Bivol, who officially weighed 174.1.

It was out of his control, but Vergil Ortiz Jr. wasn’t really on board with the original plan for his next opponent.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. did his homework, as promised. The unbeaten interim WBC 154-pound titlist vowed to look into the true meaning of ‘The Last Crescendo,’ the title of this weekend’s loaded fight card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ortiz admitted he didn’t quite understand it, during the kickoff press conference in January.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. is a yes man – he simply says yes to every opponent that is thrown his way. The WBC interim title holder Ortiz is set to fight Israil Madrimov in a junior middleweight matchup on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the undercard of the stacked event headlined by the undisputed light heavyweight title rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Bakhram Murtazaliev is ready to make up for lost time in a massive way. Murtazaliev made major waves in 2024 by knocking out Jack Culcay for the vacant IBF junior middleweight championship in April and defended the title in grand fashion by destroying Tim Tszyu in just three rounds in October despite coming into the clash as a massive betting underdog and with a broken right hand.

First-round stoppage victories over Fredrick Lawson and Thomas Dulorme across a three-month span kicked off an eventful calendar year for Vergil Ortiz Jr in 2024, campaigning in a new weight division and looking to replicate his exciting welterweight success against elite junior middleweight opposition.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. is among those who believe his upcoming showdown with Israil Madrimov will steal the spotlight on a loaded Riyadh Season show.

It’s the Last Crescendo. Artur Beterbiev defends his Undisputed World Light Heavyweight World Titles against Dmitry Bivol on February 22 in an unmissable rematch, headlining an Riyadh Season extravaganza - live worldwide on DAZN. (photos by Mark Robinson)