128 fighters competed in the first round of the tournament in four weight classes.
The boxing world looked eagerly to Saudi Arabia, where the first round of the WBC Grand Prix took place from April 17 to 20 as part of the Riyadh Season – a highly anticipated knockout tournament under the auspices of the WBC and its President Mauricio Sulaimán, who had already announced the event at the WBC Congress in Hamburg in 2024.
“It was the dream of my father, José Sulaimán. He wanted to create a kind of world cup to pave the way to greatness for young talents,” explained Sulaimán. In close collaboration with Turki Alalshikh, this dream has now become a reality.
The tournament format
A total of 128 fighters competed in four weight classes – featherweight, super lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight – each in groups of 32 participants. Each fight was scheduled for 6 rounds. The aim was to reduce the field of participants to the top eight in each weight class by the quarter-finals in the summer.
Heavyweight: Gold medal winner Mullojonov convinces
The Uzbek Olympic champion Lazizbek Mullojonov (6-0, 6 knockouts), who lived up to his role as favorite and stopped Marvin Mendoza from Panama by T.K.O. in the third round, was particularly in the spotlight.
Other heavyweights also impressed with explosive fights:
- Dante Stone with a knockout in round 1 against Indalesio Teran
- Keaton Gomes also defeated Roberto Medina by T.K.O. in the first round.
- Tsotne Rogava gave Lewis Clarke no chance in round 2
Results at a glance
Thursday, April 17 – Featherweight:
- Ayubkhon Bakhityorov TKO 6 Djamal Hadjab
- Yoni Valverde Jnr UD 6 Runqi Zhou
- Holy Dorgbetor SD 6 Oleksandr Solomennikov
- Tyshawn Denson UD 6 Enoch Tettey Tetteh
- Yusuf Adisa Adeniji MD 6 Carlos Ortega Orona
- Zholdas Zhengissov TKO 2 El Yazid Ezziandani
- Muhamet Qamili UD 6 Ihor Semonchuk
- Bekizizwe Maitse UD 6 Rodolfo Puentes
- Hector Munguia Jnr TKO 6 Idris Timileyin Gbadamosi
- Juma Choki UD 6 Bryx Piala
- Jhon Bolano UD 6 Jermaine Hardison
- Angel Sauceda Hinojosa UD 6 Maikel Ordosgoitti
- Troy Nash SD 6 Alexander Kovrigin
- Brandon Mejia Mosqueda TKO 3 Bishara Sabbar
- Gully Powar UD 6 Japhethlee Llamido
- Iman Lee Juan MD 6 Manuel Albornoz
Friday, April 18 – Super lightweight:
- Ju Wu UD 6 Jokin Garcia
- Danylo Lozan UD 6 Kamronbek Eshmatov
- Ntethelelo Nkosi TKO 6 Marwen Mohamad Madboly
- Alan David Crenz UD 6 Crisalito Beltran
- Jerlad Into UD6 Ahmad Muhammad Jones
- Eric Basran SD 6 Isiah Johnson
- Hass Hamdan MD 6 Jose Luis Sauceda
- Sanatali Toltayev TKO 6 German Brochero
- Mujibillo Tursunov UD 6 Michael Adesodun
- Fiorenzo Priolo UD 6 Nurzhan Serikbayev
- Spencer Wilcox UD 6 Samuel Quaye
- Efe Derin Konuk UD 6 Olmo De Paz
- Orlando Aaron Barajas Tirado MD 6 Bartlomiej Przybyla
- Carlos Utria TKO 6 Elianel Guerrero
- Alan Ezequiel Dutra KO 6 Criztec Bazaldua
- Misael Cabrera Urias UD 6 Joseph Abudy
Saturday, April 19 – Middleweight:
- Hajji Muhis UD 6 Jeremy Alvarez
- Jose Ramon Montes UD 6 Sean Arkwright
- Carlos Sinisterra UD 6 Dacong Wang
- Emiliano Aguillon UD 6 Ishtvan Herzheni
- Sukhrobjon Kayimov UD 6 Ephrem Bariko
- Derek Pomerleau UD 6 Liparit Ustian
- Dylan Biggs UD 6 Hamza Azeem
- Mohammad Issa RTD 4 Telieke Aha
- Dmytro Rybalko UD 6 Jude Grant
- Lancelot Proton SD 6 Nurkanat Rayis
- Petro Frolov UD 6 Claudiu Ienci
- Ciril Suffo UD 6 Brandon Velasquez
- Giovanni Sarchioto MD 6 Maksym Molodan
- Isaac Torres TKO 6 Rasheed Adeyemo
- Paul Ryan UD 6 Anas El Abid
- Saulo Morales TKO 6 Shakul Samed
Sunday, April 20 – Heavyweight:
- Dante Stone KO 1 Indalesio Teran
- Kevin Ramirez KO 2 Brian Zwart
- Lazizbek Mullojonov TKO 3 Marvin Mendoza
- Youness Baalla UD 6 Morten Giskov
- Marko Milun TKO 1 Emrullah Kaya
- Keaton Gomes TKO 1 Roberto Medina
- Alija Mesic TKO 1 Denzel Onyango
- Reagan Apanu MD 6 Pavol Hrivnak
- Vitaliy Stalchenko UD 6 Dylan Rajic
- Emiliano Mendoza UD 6 Wu Peng Yang
- Ahmed Krnjic TKO 3 Yordy Valenzuela
- Devon Young TKO 2 Paulo Yuskiv
- Davide Brito UD 6 Clement Gillet
- Jonathan Vegara UD 6 Steven Torres
- Peter Lacz UD 6 Michael Pirotton
- Tsotne Rogava TKO 2 Lewis Clarke
Stay tuned for all further updates from the WBC Grand Prix – exclusively with us!