Artur Beterbiev became the undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight world champion by beating Dmitry Bivol on Saturday night in Riyadh.
In a thrilling fight that went the distance, the judges rendered a divisive decision which will be debated long into the night.
Beterbiev is the new undisputed light-heavyweight world champion
That night began in expected fashion with two debut points wins for young prospects Marco Maric and Mohammed Alakel.
While the atmosphere at Riyadh’s shows has been a point of contention in the past, the loud cheer for the victory of Saudi’s own Alakel could not be denied.
One group of fans even brought drums which added a unique sound to the arena throughout the night, with others around the venue clapping in unison to match the beat.
Ben Whittaker vs Liam Cameron opened the main card and produced more drama than many anticipated.
The fight was very close after five rounds as Cameron gave the 2020 Olympic silver medallist a tougher fight than expected.
Then, in a bizarre moment, the pair of them tumbled out of the ring and the bout was over in a flash as Whittaker suffered an injury that prevented him from continuing.
Whittaker could not continue and Cameron was upset to only get a draw
Alakel’s debut win went down well with the home crowdMark Robinson/Matchroom
He left the arena in a wheelchair and the fight was scored a split draw – the first blemish on his pro record.
There was no such contention in the following contest as Skye Nicolson comfortably outboxed Raven Chapman to defend her WBC featherweight world title, giving Eddie Hearn a long-awaited win over Frank Warren.
One of the loudest cheers of the night erupted during Chris Eubank Jr’s win over Kamil Szeremeta, albeit not because of anything the boxers did.
In fact it was the appearance of Neymar at ringside which raised the roof at the Kingdom Arena – the venue is also home to Al Hilal, Neymar’s Saudi Pro League side.
Eubank Jr dispatched of Szeremeta as expectedMark Robinson/Matchroom
Then Neymar got involved in the face-off with BennMark Robinson/Matchroom
When Eubank Jr stopped his foe, chaos ensued in the ring as he and his old rival Conor Benn clashed face to face for the second time this week.
The pair look set to finally have their long-awaited showdown in 2025, if Benn is finally cleared to return to boxing as expected, following the positive drugs tests which saw their initial clash scrapped in 2022.
The undercard moved at a great pace, a significant improvement from other Saudi-run shows. No sooner were Eubank Jr and Benn finished scrapping, did Jai Opetaia and Jack Massey step through the ropes.
The Kingdom Arena hosted the fight just a couple of weeks short of the anniversary of its first big event – Tyson Fury vs Francis NgannouBOXXER
Fabio Wardley did serious damage to Frazer ClarkeMark Robinson/Matchroom
That fight didn’t even make it halfway through though, as Opetaia stopped his challenger in round six and defended his IBF cruiserweight world title in dominant fashion.
Following an interlude for a giveaway competition which gifted a Mercedes-Benz G-Class to an audience member, Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke made their walks.
As soon as they did, their eagerly anticipated rematch was over though, as Wardley blasted out his rival in the very first round.
Clarke was left with a dent in the side of his head from a suspected broken cheekbone.
There was then a pause in the action with the main event not scheduled to start for another 90 minutes. However, due to the fast pacing of the undercard this was moved forwards by 30 minutes – a boxing miracle.
In the interim, there was a performance featuring Ciara, Missy Elliot and Busta Rhymes to mark the opening of this year’s Riyadh Season.
The concert was undoubtedly a spectacleMark Robinson/Matchroom
Beterbiev vs Bivol shortly followed the conclusion of the musical actsMark Robinson/Matchroom
The entire arena lit up in spectacular fashion with fireworks, flames and a light show throughout the 20-minute concert.
When it was all said and done though, the serious business began.
Michael Buffer introduced the two fighters and Beterbiev and Bivol made their grand entrances.
The ring walks were specialMark Robinson/Matchroom
The moment before the first bell captured from talkSPORT.com’s ringside seat
His famous words, ‘Let’s get ready to rumble,’ rang out around the Kingdom Arena and everybody left the ring except for the two champions and the referee.
What ensued was a back-and-forth fight for the ages.
After several swings in momentum between the two elite boxers, few people were certain how the scorecards would look at the final bell.
Buffer read them out and crowned Beterbiev the undisputed king by majority decision – a very divisive call.
Debates will rage into the night about those scorecards, but there is no doubt that a magnificent fight between two special boxers took place on Saturday night in Riyadh.
Many will now be hoping to see it again.
Beterbiev and Bivol went to battle for 12 hard roundsGetty
In the end, Beterbiev was ruled the victorGetty
