10 things we learned from “5 v 5”
1) Frank Warren knows what he is doing
Say what you want about Frank Warren, but he clearly possesses an uncanny knack for both sticking around and picking the right fights at the right time. In truth, any win over Eddie Hearn, his big rival, would have been deemed a point-scoring moment for the old promoter, but to whitewash the young pretender 5-0 sent a real message.
2) Rule Britannia
Although nationality had little to with what was really at stake in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it was still encouraging to see four of the five winners hailing from the British Isles. Indeed, the performances of Willy Hutchinson, Nick Ball, Hamzah Sheeraz and Daniel Dubois were enough to put any fears regarding British boxing’s future temporarily on hold.
3) Dead atmosphere
We know by now that one of the main drawbacks of events going to the Middle East in this current era is the complete lack of atmosphere during what are otherwise fascinating fights. This was the case again on Saturday when fans in attendance were delivered five evenly poised fights during which not a sound could be heard.
4) Sheeraz could be British Fighter of the Year
There is still a long way to go, of course, and he will hope to fight at least once more before the year ends, but there is a case already for Hamzah Sheeraz being among the best British fighters of 2024. In February he stopped Liam Williams, someone considered a test, inside just a round, and then on Saturday he bludgeoned Austin Williams, a fellow unbeaten fighter from America, inside 11.
5) Daniel Dubois deserves credit
Unable to avoid his opponent’s right hand early, it looked for all the world that Daniel Dubois was about to get stopped inside one or two rounds by Filip Hrgovic when the pair started trading shots. However, Dubois, after surviving this rough patch, pulled himself together and capitalised on Hrgovic having punched himself out to eventually take over and force a cuts stoppage in round eight. In winning in this manner Dubois showed some of the attributes he was once accused of lacking.
6) Nick Ball will always entertain
Regardless of how you scored it after 12 rounds, one thing is certain: the combination of Ray Ford and Nick Ball turned out to be every bit as good as we expected going in. Not only that, in winning Ford’s WBA featherweight title there is now the possibility that Ball, always exciting, can build something of a following back in Liverpool.
Nick Ball
7) Sixty-eight pounds is a lot
Some of us were guilty of backing Deontay Wilder to beat Zhilei Zhang simply because of his punch power, his reputation, and memories of times we have seen him turn a fight with just one shot. Yet, once both Wilder and Zhang hit the scales on the Friday (revealing to the crowd a weight difference of 68 pounds), it suddenly became harder to imagine a scenario in which Wilder made a dent in Zhang, much less switched out his lights.
8) Zhang is smart
As sad as it was to see Deontay Wilder gun-shy and then wiped out, it is worth taking a moment to respect the brilliance of the counter right hook Zhilei Zhang threw in round five to trigger Wilder’s demise. Dominant up to that point, by finishing the fight in this manner Zhang repaired a lot of the damage done back when he failed to finish Joseph Parker in March.
9) Hutchinson is a young man
After kicking off the night with a relatively comfortable decision win over Craig Richards, a jubilant Willy Hutchinson then reminded us all, over and over again, that he is a young man. As important to him as the win, it seemed, during this same post-fight interview Hutchinson also made reference to his good looks and did his best Tyson Fury impression. He is, by the way, 26 in August.
10) We need more
Rather than see the “5 v 5” concept as simply a novelty, or a one-off, it would be nice if similar events can be planned in the future, becoming perhaps an annual fixture of the boxing calendar. It would be even better if they take place in regions other than the Middle East, particularly if there are British or American boxers involved, all of whom deserve the backing of their home support.
