5 things we learned from The Last Crescendo
Takeaways from 'The Greatest Boxing Card of All Time'
The Last Crescendo was billed as ‘The Greatest Boxing Card of All Time’ and the event lived up to expectations.
Despite withdrawals from Floyd Schofield and Daniel Dubois days before their respective bouts, the card featured several all-action, competitive fights between the best boxers in the world.
Once again, the Saudi elite stacked the undercard with contests that could easily headline their own show before topping the night off with a heart-thumping spectacle comprising two future all-time greats.
Here are five takeaways from the historic night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol will always be a close fight
Dmitry Bivol avenged his loss to Artur Beterbiev to become undisputed light heavyweight champion for the first time in his career.
However, like their first encounter, the fight was closely contested with many believing it could have gone either way.
Beterbiev won via majority decision last October mainly because he dominated the later rounds.
This time, Bivol was able to stay more competitive in the latter stages, ultimately resulting in the judges giving him the win, also by majority decision.
And if you want further proof of how closely these two titans are matched, the scorecards were the same in both of their fights.
The judges scored 115-113, 116-112, and 114-114 in Beterbiev’s favour in the first fight and the score was repeated in the rematch, but instead for Bivol.
Beterbiev and Bivol could fight each other on ten different occasions, and there would probably be a debate over who deserved the win each time.
Agit Kabayel remains a dark horse in the heavyweight division
Agit Kabayel reaffirmed his potential to become a future heavyweight world champion by dominating and then knocking out Zhilei Zhang in the sixth round.
Going into the fight, Kabayel had notable victories over Dereck Chisora, Arslanbek Makmuhdov, and Frank Sanchez.
But Zhang was coming off an impressive fifth-round stoppage over Deontay Wilder and was touted as Kabayel’s toughest opponent to date.
Apart from getting dropped by a signature Zhang left hand in round five, Kabayel treated Zhang like a punching bag, landing numerous shots to the Chinaman’s body.
As the old saying goes, ‘Hitting the body is like putting money in the bank.’ Well, Kabayel’s body punching was so consistent that Zhang had no energy left.
At six foot three and around 240 lbs, Kabayel is considered a smaller heavyweight by today’s standards, yet his fluidity, agility, and boxing IQ make him a problem for any fighter in the division.
Callum Smith still has the hunger
Callum Smith was involved in arguably the best fight of the night as he outpointed the formerly unbeaten Joshua Buatsi to capture the WBO Interim Light Heavyweight title.
Even though Smith produced the cleaner work throughout, he was caught by several flush punches by a determined Buatsi who relentlessly came forward and tried to bully him on the ropes.
Smith was battered and bruised at the final bell before the judges scored the contest 119-110, 116-112, and 115-113 in his favour.
Indeed, the Liverpudlian showed he still has a lot left, after suffering defeats to pound-for-pound boxers such as Canelo Alvarez and Artur Beterbiev.
The reality is, that Smith won the World Boxing Super Series in 2018 with a knockout victory over George Groves and has made life-changing money thanks to several high-profile contests.
And yet, Smith, who is now 34 years old, proved against Buatsi that he hasn’t lost his ambition to remain one of the top fighters at 175 lbs.
Carlos Adames is a world-class operator
Carlos Adames shocked a lot of people in the boxing fraternity with his performance against Hamzah Sheeraz.
The 30-year-old from the Dominican Republic retained the WBC Middleweight World title with a draw, but many believe he deserved to have taken the unbeaten scalp of Sheeraz.
At five-foot eleven, Adames was considerably shorter than the six-foot three Sheeraz but that didn’t stop him from pressing the action and hurting the Brit with his power punches.
In the build-up, Eddie Hearn said in a few interviews that Adames would be a tough fight for Sheeraz and he was proved correct.
Sheeraz, who is only 25 years old, bossed the early parts of the contest, yet Adames seemed to get stronger as the bout wore on.
Fast, powerful, with good timing and the ability to switch from orthodox to southpaw, Adames might be the man to beat at 160 lbs.
We can only hope Adames fights Janibek Alimkhanuly in a world title unification next if a rematch with Sheeraz doesn’t happen instead.
Joseph Parker is in his peak
Joseph Parker elected to take on the heavyweight boogeyman on two days' notice and emerged victorious.
There is no denying that Martin Bakole was not in optimal condition to face Parker after taking two flights from Congo to reach Saudi Arabia and fighting at a career-heaviest weight of 310 lbs.
However, Parker deserves credit for facing a dangerous, late change of opponent and dispatching him in two rounds.
Parker, who also came in at a career-heaviest weight of 267 lbs, looked enormous without seeming to sacrifice the blistering hand speed he is known for.
It’s a shame Parker never got the opportunity to fight Dubois because this version of the New Zealander was impressive.
At the end of the day, when you look at Parker’s last three wins on his resume, it shows wins over Wilder, Zhang, and Bakole, who are some of the biggest punchers at heavyweight.
We can only assume Parker’s in-ring confidence is the highest it has ever been and the 33-year-old deserves a shot to become a two-time heavyweight world champion.
I thought Bivols win was a bit more decisive than Betterbievs was. As to Parker, not surprised and dont attribute any of his win to his opponents lack of conditioning. He fights lazy, sharp puncher but will never rely on better conditioning. In that sense hes not unlike Zhang. I think Joseph Parker is the only guy out there who can really challenge Usyk and im a big usyk fan.
Yeah, I get what you mean. It was really hard to not give Bivol the decision on Saturday night. Bakole is a bit of a lump but he is so dangerous with those uppercuts and hooks so credit to Parker for dispatching him in two rounds. Usyk-Parker would be a good fight but still one where I would favour Usyk.