TMZSports.com
Everyone from Muhammad Ali, to Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather, have fought in the United States … so when Eddie Hearn says the upcoming “Riyadh Season” event in L.A., featuring a bunch of top-notch fights, as well as a performance by Eminem, will be the biggest in the history of boxing in ‘Merica, that’s saying a lot!
“I mean, it’s the biggest night of boxing I think America’s ever seen,” Hearn told Babcock on the “TMZ Sports” TV show (airs nightly on FS1).
The August 3 event goes down at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles … and features a main event bout between Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov, in addition to scraps between Andy Ruiz and Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, Jared Anderson and Martin Bakole, “Pitbull” Cruz and Jose Valenzuela, amongst other compelling matchups.
Stacked!
“It’s the depths of these cards that are just insane,” Hearn said, explaining … “And obviously that comes from the financial backing of His Excellency in Saudi Arabia. Because if this was just my show, I couldn’t put on this undercard.”
As if the wall-to-wall action weren’t enough, they’ve also got 15x Grammy-winning rap legend Eminem performing some of his biggest hits.
Of course, Em just dropped a new album.
The card marks the first time Crawford’s returning to the ring since dominating Errol Spence in July 2023 … and Bud’s going up a weight class (from 147 to 153).
As great as TC is, Eddie believes he’ll struggle fighting a bigger opponent.
“Terrence going up. Israel is a young guy, undefeated, hasn’t lost. I mean, is this the toughest challenge for Terrence? Yeah, I think it’s a big banana skin, to be honest with you. I mean, look, Terence, in my opinion, is pound for pound number one,” Hearn said.
“I mean, Israel Madrimov is with me and Terence is not. And, I really want to beat him. I also admire [Crawford] and respect him. He’s also a really nice guy, funny guy, credit to the sport. But you see, the thing is with these greats is they go through the weight divisions because they have to for their legacy. And, they’re just too good. You know, he won the lightweight world title at 135 lbs. Then won every belt at 140, every belt at 147.”
“And, the hope is that eventually you go too far. You know, you come up against a bigger man, a stronger man. And, I believe that could be Madrimov.”
Check out the full interview with Eddie … we also talk about Saturday’s Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry fight, as well as Ryan Garcia‘s recent struggles.
And, ‘Riyadh Season’ goes down in two short weeks!