All business this year for Riyadh Season and The Ring as they announce another fight card this year, one set in the UK with Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn set to headline a card that will spotlight an array of British fighters including Liam Smith, Anthony Yarde and Chris Billam-Smith. In conjunction with several of UK’s most well-known promoters, the upcoming April 26 card will be staged in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
While neither Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3, 25 KO’s) and Conor Benn (23-0, 14 KO’s) have achieved anywhere as prestigious as some other fighters on the card such as becoming a world champion, the two have somehow been hoisted as the main attraction of the upcoming Riyadh Season card, driving a certain standard of name recognition trumping over actual accomplishments.
Nonetheless, the two fighters will finally be staging what started as a manufactured fight based on their fathers’ names but now appears to have spilled out into a fight that may actually harbour some personal enmity between Chris Eubank and Conor Benn. They will be fighting in a middleweight (160 lbs) contest scheduled for twelve rounds.
Complementing the card will be other British fights, setting a theme similar to Riyadh Season’s September 2024 card which also depicted primarily British fighters going up against one another. Though in this case there will be some fights that feature non-British/UK fighters, there appears to be a clear push with the April 26 card to represent British talent.
Probably the most relevant fight set to occur will be a domestic bout between two British rivals that have already stepped into the ring; Anthony Yarde (26-3, 24 KO’s) and Lyndon Arthur (24-2, 16 KO’s) who will be meeting in the ring for the third time in order to draw a fitting conclusion to their prior two battles which saw either fighter claim one win against one another. Their fight will be held at light-heavyweight (175 lbs).
At cruiserweight (200 lbs), former WBO champion Chris Billam-Smith (20-2, 13 KO’s) is slated to make his return following his unification loss to now-unified Mexican champion Gilberto Ramirez (47-1, 30 KO’s). He will be facing American fighter Brandon Glanton (20-2, 17 KO’s), a contender who has officially been in the top 15 rankings for several years and plenty of experience to stage an exciting yet tough battle for both.
Former Eubank Jr. opponent Liam Smith (33-4-1, 20 KO’s) will also be featured on the card in a rather risky battle against 25-year old Irish contender Aaron McKenna (19-0, 11 KO’s). The two will be duking it out at middleweight in a contest where either experience or youth will win out.
One of the most surprising additions on the card will be another domestic feature between British cruiserweight contenders Viddal Riley (12-0, 7 KO’s) and Cheavon Clarke (10-1, 7 KO’s). Their contest is set to determine the next possible challenger for a world title at cruiserweight as they compete in a high-stakes match that sets a clear standard for British boxing.