Queensberry vs. Matchroom 5v5 fight card: Biggest storylines surrounding Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and more

Saudi Arabia will host another major boxing event on Saturday, with a card headlined between heavyweights Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. The card was originally scheduled to main event Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmiry Bivol for the undisputed light heavyweight championship before an injury forced a change.

For fans of heavyweight action, there’s another big-name fight, with Filip Hrgovic taking on Daniel Dubois. The two heavyweight fights are more important than ever following Oleksandr Usyk becoming the first undisputed champion of the four-belt era and a renewed interest in boxing’s glamor division.

There are many other notable fights on the card, which is themed as a “5 on 5” showdown between Matchroom Boxing and Queensberry Promotions fighters, and with any big card comes a number of compelling storylines.

Let’s take a look at the top stories you need to know ahead of Saturday’s action.

Will Zhang or Wilder’s biggest failures cost them dearly?

Both Wilder and Zhang enter the main event with defeat to Joseph Parker, who has re-established himself as a heavyweight challenger after being previously ruled out. The biggest problem for Zhang and Wilder against Parker was exactly the same: a complete failure to be active enough in their offensive production.

Wilder has struggled with the same problem a few times in the past, including in his rematch with Luis Ortiz, when Wilder lost 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 on all three official scorecards before a crushing knockout. His performance against Parker was worse, as he landed just 94 power punches in 12 rounds, landing just 26. Zhang landed 40 of 147 power punches on Parker, although he at least scored two knockdowns to keep the final score close, losing only by majority decision. .

This is a meeting between two of the most fearsome punchers in the sport, but also two men who can fall into long periods of inactivity and passivity. There’s a strong possibility that the main event could turn into a snooze fest if both men are passive and want to avoid the threat of eating a big shot.

Wilder vowed to try and deliver a vintage performance after admitting he “just couldn’t pull the trigger when the time came” against Parker. Zhang tends to come out strong, but disappears a lot in the second half when his gas tank starts to fail.

The fight may ultimately come down to whether either man can apply – and maintain – pressure throughout the fight. You have to throw punches to win a fight and anyone who falls victim to their worst habits will probably end up losing.

A complicated title situation involving Hrgovic and Dubois

During the long build-up to Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk crowning the four-belt undisputed heavyweight champion, the IBF repeatedly said that if the winner went ahead with their contractually required rematch, they would be stripped of the IBF championship. This was the result of Hrgovic’s long wait as mandatory challenger for the IBF belt. After Hrgovic defeated Zhang in 2022, the IBF ordered Usyk to enter negotiations with Hrgovic only to back down because they were not next in the mandatory obligation rotation.

Hrgovic dominated Demsey McKean and Mark de Mori as he waited for his chance to become world champion. After Usyk became undisputed, the IBF apparently reversed course, saying that Usyk had the right to request an exception to his mandatory defense against Hrgovic in favor of the Fury rematch, although it said it would have to review the request before reaching a final decision.

At a press conference days before the fight, Hrgovic seemed completely unaware that the IBF title was not on the line when asked about the situation.

“What do you mean it’s not? It should be,” Hrgovic said. “It should be for the belt, man. What are you talking about? You know, man, I hope it’s for the title. That’s what they told me, I don’t know.

After last weekend’s fight between Jack Catterall and Josh Taylor, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn suggested it would be the winner of Hrgovic vs. Dubois fighting Anthony Joshua for the vacant IBF title at the end of the year because it was too soon after Usyk’s request for the IBF to make its decision.

The IBF has not provided any clarity on the situation and it seems strange that the sanctioning body which said as early as October 2023 that the belt would be vacated if Fury and Usyk faced each other, only to now go radio silent and leave the fighters unsure about the stakes of their fight just days away from entering the ring.

Two world title fights on the card

While we don’t know for sure if Hrgovic vs. Dubois will be for the world title, there are two world title fights scheduled for the event.

Perhaps the best fight on the card will be Raymond Ford defending his WBA featherweight title against Nick Ball in a clash of undefeated fighters.

Ford is coming off one of the most dramatic victories of the year, stopping Otabek Kholmatov with just seven seconds remaining in the final round. If Ford hadn’t scored the stoppage, he would have lost the fight on the scorecards. Instead, he faced a tough fight and used some magic to win the vacant championship.

Ball is coming off his own dramatic fight, fighting Rey Vargas to a draw in a fight for Vargas’ WBC featherweight belt. The compact Ball, who strives to emulate Mike Tyson’s style, scored two knockdowns in a fight he faced, with those knockdowns resulting in a split draw.

The other world title fight is something of a disappointment as Dmitry Bivol puts his WBA light heavyweight title on the line against Malik Zinad. Bivol was supposed to headline the card in a highly anticipated showdown with WBC, WBO and IBF champion Artur Beterbiev to crown an undisputed champion.

Beterbiev suffered an injury in training camp that ruled him out of the fight and Bivol opted to remain on the card against a replacement opponent. Zinad had already established himself as an IBF mandatory with a win over Jerome Pampellone in the title eliminator, but Beterbiev’s injury gave him the chance to challenge for the WBA belt.

Zinad hasn’t fought the best of the best, but he is a legitimate challenger, even if everyone is looking forward to the yet-to-be-rescheduled battle between Bivol and Beterbiev.