The press conference for the 5 vs. 5 Matchroom-Queensberry card, held on April 15th, has finally fully unveiled the fighters set to compete in the event. Aside from a date and venue that have been decided, all the fighters of each promotion’s team have been confirmed and includes several surprises including the addition of Deontay Wilder on the fight card who will be representing Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom as he fights Queensberry Promotions fighter―which is headed by Frank Warren―Zhilei Zhang. Additionally, the fight card will see Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol step into the ring to decide the undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the division. The event will be hosted at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and is set commence on June 1st.

The idea for the Matchroom Boxing vs. Queensberry Promotions event was first teased by General Entertainment Authority (GEA) chairman Turki Al-Sheikh earlier this year, and will come to full fruition in less than two months’ time as the undisputed light-heavyweight fight―as well as five fights held between the two promotions, will be held on June 1st. The event will feature fighters handpicked by the two promotional outfits to represent a battle between promotions. All fights on the card are scheduled for a total of twelve rounds.

Serving as the main event will be an undisputed light-heavyweight match between Russia WBA champion Dmitry Bivol (22-0, 11 KO’s) and Canadian-Russian unified [WBC, WBO & IBF] champion Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KO’s). It will be the first-ever undisputed bout to involve all four of the primary 175 lbs world titles, making it set a historic precedent in the sport of boxing as the two fighters of Russian origin finally go head-to-head in the most important light-heavyweight bout of the modern era.

The full participants of the 5 vs. 5 Matchroom–Queensberry card has been revealed as follows:

• Heavyweight non-title bout: Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KO’s) of Team Queensberry vs. Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KO’s) of Team Matchroom

• Heavyweight title bout: Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KO’s) of Team Matchroom vs. Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KO’s) of Team Queensberry

• Featherweight title bout: Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KO’s) of Team Matchroom vs. Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KO’s) of Team Queensberry

• Middleweight non-title bout: Hamzah Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KO’s) of Team Queensberry vs. Austin Williams (16-0, 11 KO’s) of Team Matchroom

• Light-heavyweight non-title bout: Willy Hutchinson (17-3-1, 11 KO’s) of Team Queensberry vs. Craig Richards (18-3-1, 11 KO’s) of Team Matchroom

The non-title heavyweight bout between American former world champion Deontay Wilder and Chinese former WBO interim champion Zhilei Zhang may prove to be the most eye-catching fight― aside from the undisputed light-heavyweight match, despite both fighters coming off of losses. As both Zhang and Wilder are considered hard-hitting punchers, their match may serve as the most exciting fight of the event.

The inclusion of Deontay Wilder on the card has further caused a shock to reverberate throughout the boxing world with the American having publicly voiced his disdain of Matchroom fighter Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KO’s) numerous times, while also having had plenty of words about Matchroom head Eddie Hearn―who has criticized and spoken about Wilder in a negative light himself on more than a couple occasions.

Moreover, the move by Wilder to join Matchroom for this event seems to confirm that the American heavyweight has left the fold of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), confirming that he has been a free agent since last fighting for the American-based promotion in 2022. Wilder’s inclusion on Matchroom’s team, especially considering the past enmity between the two, is further significant due to him being the second fighter associated with PBC to join up with rival promotion Matchroom within just a week; with Jaron Ennis having recently been announced to have joined the UK-based promotion. It should be noted that Wilder has only signed a deal with Matchroom for this one event, and he will likely continue to be a free agent after the event.

The heavyweight bout between Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois will likely see Hrgovic defend his IBF heavyweight interim title against the Brit, giving Dubois the opportunity to potentially fight the heavyweight undisputed winner of May 18th, or become the full IBF heavyweight champion if the winner vacates or is stripped of their IBF title like expected. In this case, Hrgovic will be representing Matchroom―which is also quite a surprise given he has also been quite critical of Matchroom fighter Anthoniy Joshua, while Dubois will represent Queensberry Promotions who he has been with since the beginning of his pro career. It should be noted that although Hrgovic will be representing Matchroom, he is actually signed to Wasserman Boxing, which is currently headed by German-British promoter Kalle Sauerland,

The featherweight between American WBA champion Raymond Ford and British contender Nick Ball will include Ford’s title and therefore make it a world title bout as Ford defends his title for the first time. For Nick Ball, it will be his second world title fight in a little over a month―with Ball’s last bout having occurred on March 8th and resulted in the British featherweight drawing against WBC champion Rey Vargas (36-1-1, 22 KO’s).

Ford himself last fought a little over a month ago when he defeated Otabek Kholmatov (12-1, 11 KO’s) to become the WBA featherweight champion on March 2nd, with the title having been vacant after its former holder, Leigh Wood (28-3, 17 KO’s), moved up to super featherweight/junior lightweight. Ford will be representing Team Matchroom, while Nick Ball will be representing Team Queensberry.

British middleweight fighter Hamzah Sheeraz and American contender Austin Williams will not be fighting for a title, but with both fighters being unbeaten and regarded as talented future world title challengers, their bout will still be a high-stakes affair; with the winner likely to be tipped as the next in line for a shot at any of the middleweight division’s world champions.

Lastly, a light-heavyweight non-title bout between Scottish contender Willy Hutchinson [Team Queensberry] and British contender Craig Richards [Team Matchroom] will occur on fight night.

The entire card is set to be another spectacle event mirroring the “Day of Reckoning” card that was held last December, with Saudi Arabian government organization GEA and its head Turki Al-Sheikh once more becoming pinnacle players in the sport with this stupendous and eye-catching event.

Aside from one of boxing’s most prevalent fights of this era occurring as it pertains to the undisputed light-heavyweight bout between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, the card will also ensure competitiveness within the sport of boxing with the winners of each 5 vs. 5 Matchroom–Queensberry fight will see both their reputation and competitive standing likely improve substantially.

The format of Team Matchroom vs. Team Queensberry also provides an additional entertaining factor to the card, signifying the GEA’s continuing relevance within the boxing industry as it aims to provide not merely entertaining fights, but fights that also contribute to the sport as a whole―all while the fighters are set to be well-compensated for their efforts