Five dream Eddie Hearn vs Frank Warren fights amid Saudi boxing vow

The press conference launching the much anticipated heavyweight boxing bout between former two-time world champion Anthony Joshua and former UFC champion Francis Ngannou has left tongues wagging.

But not over the fight they were intending to promote but rather the prospect of a future 2024 show that would have been beyond boxing fans’ wildest dreams little more than six months ago.

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh used Monday’s press conference to reveal he wants to make a five-fight card that will see Eddie Hearn’s fighters from Matchroom take on Frank Warren’s Queensberry stable.

He announced: “I want to see Eddie Hearn vs Frank Warren… Five on five,” to which both British promoters agreed and shook hands on stage.

The pair have been at loggerheads ever since Hearn stepped into the boxing promotion world but they have come together on recent cards in Saudi Arabia to stage some of the biggest fights in boxing.

And now they look set to stage a joint show pitting their fighters against each other later this year. Here, Dexerto Sport looks at five mouth-watering fights the show could stage.

Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury

It would be one of the most anticipated showdowns in British boxing history and the hope would be this long awaited fight between two British heavyweight world champions would headline the card.

Fury will put his WBC title on the line in an undisputed heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk next month in Saudi Arabia, while Joshua takes on Ngannou a month later.

Ideally, both fighter would emerge victorious so there are world titles on the line but, regardless, it would settle a lengthy rivalry while both promoters put their most prized assets on the line.

Filip Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois/Zhilei Zhang

If one potential heavyweight world title fight is not enough, then another one on the same card would do just nicely.

If Fury wins all four belts, he will have mandatory challengers to negotiate while trying to make a fight with Joshua.

Matchroom’s Filip Hrgovic is mandatory challenger for the IBF belt, while Queensberry’s Zhilei Zhang holds the WBO Interim belt and is first in line for a shot at the full title.

Fury could well vacate one, if not both, of those belts which could see those vacant titles up for grabs on the same show.

If it’s impossible for Hrgovic vs Zhang to be made then Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois would be a very good alternative.

Callum Smith vs Anthony Yarde

Both men have tried and both men have failed to beat Artur Beterbiev in the last 12 months for his WBC, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight titles.

So while Beterbiev thrashes out an undisputed title fight with fellow Russian and WBA champion Dmitry Bivol, what better fight to make than Smith vs Yarde?

British bragging rights would be at stake and the chance to be first in line for another world title shot would surely await the winner.

Raymond Ford vs Nick Ball

Given Leigh Wood has vacated his WBA featherweight world title, and a rematch at super-featherweight with Josh Warrington or a shot at Joe Cordina’s IBF super-featherweight title is up next for the Nottingham fighter, then there is no better featherweight matchup to make between the two stables.

Ford, promoted by Matchroom, is set to challenge the fearsome Uzbek Otabek Kholmatov for the vacant WBA featherweight world title in March. Should he win his first defence could be against the highly ranked Nick Ball.

Should he lose, Ball, who is currently the number one ranked contender in the WBC, would be the perfect return fight with the winner surely set for a shot at world champion Rey Vargas.

Shabaz Masoud vs Liam Davies

Japanese sensation Naoya Inoue has just become the undisputed champion at super-bantamweight and after a mooted defence against Luis Nery, he could well step up again to the featherweight division.

Should he do so, all four belts would become vacant and both Hearn and Warren boast fighters in the division who are highly ranked in various governing bodies.

Shabaz Masoud, ranked third in the WBA, against British and European champion Liam Davies, who is ranked in the top 15 of all four governing bodies, would be a perfect gateway fight to a world title shot.