Shakur Stevenson-Joe Cordina tops busy undercard for Beterbiev-Bivol showdown on October 12

SHAKUR STEVENSON and Joe Cordina headline another stacked Riyadh Season undercard on October 12 in the Saudi Arabian capital.

Stevenson, the current WBC lightweight title holder, will be defending his title against the ex-IBF super-featherweight champion. The former champion, who just lost his title to Anthony Cacace in Riyadh on May 18, will be making his debut at 135lbs.

Last week Cordina told Boxing News he would happily “jump in” with any of the current lightweight world champions.

Battling a champion always brings about nerves and a bit of fear regarding defeat. The fear I have for losing is immense. This fear of losing, of confronting another champion, is something I crave, as it brings out my best. I’d willingly step into the ring with champions like Lomachenko, Shakur Stevenson, “Tank” Davis, and Berinchyk. All I need is 10 to 12 weeks of preparation and I’d be ready to face them.

The brain behind Riyadh Season, Turki Alalshikh, was eager to collaborate with Stevenson, just like his promotional partner, Eddie Hearn. For this date, they have finally achieved their desire.

Chris Eubank Jr will also make his Riyadh debut against Polish middleweight Kamil Szeremeta. In recent weeks Eubank had been linked to a fight against unified super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez but instead he will face a man who fought and lost to Gennadiy Golovkin and Jaime Munguia in consecutive fights between December 2020 and June 2021.

The British heavyweight title rematch between champion Fabio Wardley and challenger Frazer Clarke will also take place on the same card. In last week’s British Boxing Board of Control circular it was revealed that an agreement had been reached between both parties but all it needed was a date and venue. Now, we have both. Their first fight ended in a split draw after a spectacular contest which could have gone either way.

Number one cruiserweight and IBF world champion Jai Opetaia faces European champ Jack Massey on October 12. The Australian will face his third British opponent in four fights having already steamrollered Jordan Thompson and Ellis Zorro. Last time out Opetaia made it 2-0 in a rematch against Mairis Briedis who announced his retirement from boxing on Monday. Massey should prove to be the toughest British test for Opetaia so far after beating Isaac Chamberlain to win the EBU strap in June.

One of the best fights to be made in women’s boxing goes ahead on the same night when Opetaia’s fellow Aussie Skye Nicolson defends her world title against Raven Champman. Nicolson won the vacant WBC Featherweight title against Sarah Mafoud in April and equally outclassed Dyana Vargas in her first defence three months later. Chapman, however, is a tougher prospect and is a legitimate threat to Nicolson’s reign.

Light-heavyweight showman Ben Whittaker will look to steal the spotlight when he faces Liam Cameron. Whittaker, a 2020 Olympic Silver Medallist, has made a an eight-fight winning start to his career since making his professional debut in July 2022. Cameron fought former world title challenger Lyndon Arthur in his last outing and gave a good account of himself in his split-decision loss.

And finally Mohammed Alakel will make his professional debut against Jesus Gonzalez to kick off the October 12 card.