REFLECTIONS ON RIYADH
By Frank Warren
DESPITE FRIDAY’S LATEST Riyadh jamboree being another major success, you couldn’t help but leave the magnificent Kingdom Arena with a little bit of a bitter taste in the mouth.
Without a doubt, we should be celebrating another British world champion in Nick Ball, who pretty much overwhelmed the champion Rey Vargas, only for the fight to be declared a draw on the scorecards.
It was a downright liberty, make no mistake, and I felt very sorry for Nick and his trainer/mentor Paul Stevenson for having to accept such a miscarriage of justice.
True, Nick took a few rounds to really find his rhythm and start hitting the target, but Vargas wasn’t doing that much in the first half of the fight either. They were very close rounds and to say Vargas won the first five or six would be generous in the extreme.
From the midpoint of the fight, Nick totally took control, roughed up the Mexican and rocked him on a regular basis. He knocked Vargas to the canvas twice and the outcome of the contest should really have been a foregone conclusion.
Some people will have noticed that I was peeking over the shoulder of MC Thomas Trieber when he was collecting the scores and, I am told, my expression when I turned around totally gave the game away.
I was and still am furious over the wayward scoring. I know this is sadly a recurring theme, but these judges need to be made accountable and not just move on to the next overseas gig as if all has been forgotten.
The WBC need to act and demand explanations from two of the judges as to how they reached such score totals. In the meantime, Vargas should be informed that there will be no further defences of his belt sanctioned until he again shares a ring with Nick.
Vargas was widely considered the leading featherweight in the world heading into Friday night and such a status, in my view, now sits with Nick. Vargas should not be let off the hook, while there is also the potential for Nick to have a quick turnaround and take the WBA title off of the new champion Ray Ford. I fancy him strongly in that one too.
Another young Queensberry fighter who made a big name for himself on Friday is Mark Chamberlain, who really did a job on the recent British and European champion Gavin Gwynne.
It was supposed to represent a significant step up for Mark, but he didn’t give Gavin a look-in and the fight was rightly stopped in the fourth round, with Mark winning the WBA International lightweight title.
Mark really is the Blue Eyed Boy where HE Turki is concerned. As you all know by now, HE personally requested that Mark was on the card and his performance has only served to increase his admiration.
It is great news for Mark and good luck to him. You need all the breaks you can get in this game.
Credit to Joseph Parker for his performance in outlasting Zhilei Zhang in the co-main event. It seemed that Big Bang ran out of steam in the last few rounds and Joseph was able to overcome the two knockdowns and become WBO Interim world champion.
In the headliner, congratulations go to Anthony Joshua for his spectacular crushing of Francis Ngannou. He didn’t put a foot or fist wrong and the finish was devastating.
It is only good news for the heavyweight division that AJ has rediscovered his spite and fire because the landscape is a brighter place with him on song. But let’s not get carried away, the two best heavies are fighting for the undisputed crown on May 18. The undefeated WBC champion against the unified champion who has beaten AJ twice.