The Last Crescendo is being referred to as one of the all-time great boxing cards for a number of compelling reasons. The card features fighters who are future legends or potential Hall of Famers, and lots of top-level fighters and title fights that are high profile and appeal to a large number of fans.
Boxing is as much about the storylines as it is about the fights. Personal rivalries, comebacks, and narratives of redemption can deeply resonate with fans. When top-tier talent faces off, it elevates the entire event. A high-class production with commentary, imagery, and fan engagement can contribute to the event to make it absolute cinema.
Overall, the combination of electrifying fights, top-level stakes, intriguing stories, and iconic atmosphere makes “The Last Crescendo” one of the best-ever boxing cards. But the question we ask is did it live up to the hype? Did Turki Alalshikh put together the greatest boxing card of all time? To answer that, let’s look at each fight on the card and see how the results were.
Fight recap:
Starting off with the first fight on the card Joshua Buatsi vs Callum Smith for the WBO Interim light-heavyweight title. It was an action-packed war from the start.
Both men were keeping their end of the barging with a back-and-forth bout. Smith was able to land a couple of body shots to Buatsi that badly hurt him in Round 5 and a right hand to the body moments later had Buatsi gassed out. But later in the fight, Smith appeared to empty his gas tank in his assault in the sixth round and Buatsi was able to up his attack, putting Smith in danger several times over the second half of the fight with his own attacks to the body and head. Callum Smith defeated Joshua Buatsi in a 12-round battle for the WBO interim light-heavyweight title, Smith took the decision unanimously with two judges scoring 115-113 and 116-112, and the third scoring 119-110
The second fight on the card is Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel for the WBC interim heavyweight. Two heavy-weight fighters with heavy hands. Zhelei Zhang just got out with an impressive fifth-round knockout to Deontay Wilder and Agit Kabayel’s impressive seventh-round knockout against Frank Sanchez. This fight was expected to have a knockout in it. In the beginning round, Zhang started out faster than in his previous fights where he seemed to be getting the upper hand. After round one Zhang looked tired and Kabayel was taking advantage and started hitting Zhang with body shots. It seemed Kabayel was getting the upper hand. In the fifth round Zhang last breath and scored a knock down where it looked like the fight was over but Kabayel got up and finished the round. As round six starts Kabayel keeps with the body shot and benefits from those body shots to knockout Zhang. And now Kabayel is still undefeated and your new WBC interim heavyweight champion.
The third fight on the card Israil Madrimov vs Virgil Ortiz Jr for the WBC interim super welterweight title. This was the most interesting fight to me because you have Israil Madrimov who came off a 12-round fight with the pound-for-pound fighter in Tarence Crawford which hasn’t been done since 2016 and you have an upping comer part of golden boys production in Virgil Ortiz Jr who is undefended. It was going to be interesting how this fight was going to turn out. Early on in the fight, Madrimov controlled the pace. But midway through the fight Ortiz Jr found his rhythm and dominated. Ortiz Jr had this fight won. It was coming down to Madrimov needing a knockout to win the fight. Which unfortunately did not happen. Ortiz Jr kept the pace going and countered Madrimov’s punches. In conclusion after 12 rounds, Ortiz Jr. won via a unanimous decision, 115-113, 115-113, 117-111, and retained the WBC interim super welterweight title.
The fourth fight on the card is Carlos Adames vs Hamzah Sheeraz for the WBC middleweight title. Carlos Adames the champion defending his title against the challenger Hamzah Sheeraz. This fight wasn’t too much action going on. It was an up-down performance from both fighters. Neither one really getting the upper hand on the other. In conclusion, the fight ended in a split draw, with judges scoring 115-114 Sheeraz, 118-110 Adames & 114-114.
The fifth fight of the card was Shakur Stevenson vs Josh Padley for the WBC lightweight title. Newark’s own undefeated champion Shakur Stevenson defending his title against the undefeated challenger Josh Padley, an electrician out of the United Kingdom. Who took the fight on three days’ notice. Most people predicted this fight would go 12 rounds. In the typical Shakur Stevenson faction this fight seemed to be going the distance. Shakur Stevenson is known to go the distance in his fights. Some say he’s so boring in the ring that he doesn’t have that “it” factor as a fighter to be entertaining. But ironically Stevenson TKO Josh Padley in the ninth round. Even though Josh Padley was TKO this shouldn’t discredit the fact that he was doing good in the ring. He showed a lot of heart and earned the respect of the fans. Even though Shakur retained his WBC lightweight title in people’s eyes Josh Padley besides getting TKO’D he’s the people champ.
The Co-Main Event bout Joseph Parker vs Martin Bakole was originally supposed to be Joseph Parker vs Daniel Dubois but due to Dubois getting sick before weight-ins they had to get a replacement opponent last minute. Hours before the PPV started Martin Bakole got the call and stepped in at the last minute. Usually, when a situation like this happens it’s never good for the opponent, in this case Martin Bakole. This turns out to be the truth because Martin Bakole gets knocked out in the second round by Joesph Parker.
On to the Main Event bout Arthur Beterdiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 for the undisputed world lightweight champion. The rematch everyone has been waiting for since October. The first time these two fought it did not disappoint. In a close back-and-forth battle which some thought ended in controversy, Arthur Beterdiev would win by unanimous decision. That night Turki Alalshikh made the rematch official. Once the card was made it was hyped to be the greatest card to ever be assembled. With Arthur Beterdiev vs Dmitry Bivol being the main event the question everyone was thinking about was whether the rematch going to be as great as the first fight. Will Bivol get his redemption or will Beterdiev end the rivalry? As we go into the highly anticipated rematch many hoped Bivol would win. As the fight started Arthur Beterdiev was at a fast pace and seemed to be getting the upper hand. But as the fight continued Dmitry Bivol started to counter and tire Beterdiev out. Non-stop back in fourth action between both warriors it finally came down to the judge’s decision. With the first judge scoring it 114-114. The second judges scored 116-112. The third judge scored it 115-113 with your winner and new undisputed world lightweight champion Dmitry Bivol. In such a close fight the question is that fans wonder if is there going to be a trilogy or if is this the last time we will see Beterdiev vs Bivol.
Was this card worth the hype?
This card is the greatest card of all time. With non-stop action to great boxing, this card without a question lived up to the hype.
With the fan engagement to the storylines leading up to these fights, the interest level was high. Non-stop talk leading up to the rematch between Arthur Beterdiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2. And every fight on this card will main event its own PPV.
A card like this has to be a dream. A dream that you never wanna wake up from because this card was the first time in a while that fans were engaged throughout the night.
Every fight was on your feet and you wanted to see more. With three fights ending in stoppages and four ending by decision. You couldn’t ask for a better event. Turki Alalshikh has done it again and put on another master-class fight card. Previously having Usyk vs Fury 1-2, Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois, and of course, the Riyadh Season fight card was headlined by the pound-for-pound fighter in the world Terrence Crawford. And to put the greatest fight card of all.
What more great cards is Turki Alalshikh going to bring? Are we going to see a better card than The Last Crescendo or is this going to be the only greatest card we will ever see?
Turki Alalshikh brought boxing back to its former glory and made the greatest boxing card of all time that lived up to its name.
