The Riyadh Return

Queensberry fighters take starring roles when boxing returns to the forefront of Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia on Saturday August 16.

Top of the bill is a tasty heavyweight showdown between the 20-year-old Moses Itauma, tipped to be the future of the division, taking on former world title challenger Dillian Whyte in a major test of his current credentials.

Itauma is the current WBO Intercontinental and WBA International champion, who defeated Mike Balogun last time out in May via a second round stoppage. Whyte, 37, was previously holder of the WBC Interim and Silver titles and challenged Tyson Fury for the full world championship at Wembley Stadium in April 2022.

Featherweight star Nick Ball, 28, will make a third defence of his WBA world title when he goes up against the Australian Sam Goodman. Both are undefeated, with Ball having defended the belt he won against Ray Ford in June of last year against Ronny Rios and TJ Doheny.

Goodman, 26, was due to take on Naoya Inoue at the beginning of the year, but was forced to withdraw due to suffering a cut in sparring. He now steps up a weight for his maiden world title shot.

The IBO world super featherweight champion Anthony Cacace will take on former Ball foe Ray Ford, with the American having moved up a division.

Cacace has defended his IBO belt on four  occasions – against Damien Wrzesinski, Joe Cordina, Josh Warrington and, most recently in May, Leigh Wood – and now he returns to the scene of his triumph over Cordina, from whom he took the IBF world title from.

Ford has fought twice since Ball inflicted a first defeat on his record, with his last appearance coming in April when he defeated Thomas Mattice to secure the WBA Continental Americas title.

Back at heavyweight, another two Queensberry fighters will trade bombs when Filip Hrgovic goes up against the British champion David Adeleye.

Hrgovic, 33, defeated Joe Joyce in April over 10 rounds to bounce back from his first career defeat against Daniel Dubois, while Adeleye, 28, seized the Lonsdale belt with victory over Jeamie Tshikeva in Manchester, having previously won the English title with a first round stoppage of Solomon Dacres.

Elsewhere on the card, Japanese featherweight talent Hayato Tsutumi will face former British Olympian Qais Ashfaq.

“This is a fantastic card and platform for the Queensberry fighters to shine once again in Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season,” said promoter Frank Warren.

“The finest young heavyweight in the world in Moses Itauma taking a gigantic step forward against Dillian Whyte will grab most of the attention and it deserves to, but Nick Ball defending his world title against Sam Goodman is a terrific scrap between two undefeated fighters.

“Anto Cacace against Ray Ford has got all the makings of a true classic and we all know just how good both men are, plus we’ve got a battle between two heavyweight contenders jockeying for position in Filip Hrgovic and David Adeleye.”