‘I Showed My Heart’ – Doubters Proved Wrong at ‘Day of Reckoning’
RIYADH, Dec. 23 – Big Fight Weekend continues its coverage at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena in the bouts leading up to the main event. Check out our recap of the first four fights on this stacked card.
“Day of Reckoning” is part of Riyadh Season, a state-funded entertainment and sports festival. Viewers can catch all the action on DAZN as a PPV, while those in the UK and Ireland can also purchase it on TNT Sports Box Office. ESPN+ will also have the event as a PPV for those in the United States. It’s time to recap Daniel Dubois vs. Jarrell Miller and Dmitry Bivol vs. Lyndon Arthur.
Daniel Dubois Shows His Heart
Bivol Drops, Cruises to Victory Over Arthur
In a fight for the WBA light heavyweight championship, Dmitry Bivol (22-0. 11 KOs) had his hand raised once again as he won a unanimous decision over Lyndon Arthur (23-2, 16 KOs). Scores were 120-107 across the board.
Both men attempted to establish their jab early on. Bivol would press forward while Arthur was content staying on the backfoot. A lone combination from the WBA champion was the highlight in this round.
Bivol had more success in round two as he started to land more combinations, something he repeated in the third. Whenever Bivol let his lands go, he found Arthur almost at will, who struggled to defend himself against the combinations.
The Brit was not particularly active – choosing to remain along the ropes and not throwing or landing many punches. On the other hand, Bivol continued to press forward and made sure not to neglect the body. Occasionally he would land a flurry that Arthur had trouble defending against.
In the final ten seconds of round eleven, Arthur went down with a left hook to the body. Bivol came out swinging in the twelfth but couldn’t stop his opponent. Arthur remained standing despite another late barrage of punches from the WBA champion. Despite showing more offensive intent than usual, Bivol went on to win a unanimous decision.
Dubois Wears Out Miller, Eventually Stops Him
It took a while, but Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) eventually stopped Jarrell Miller (26-1-1. 22 KOs) in their 10-round heavyweight clash. The time of stoppage was 2:52 of the tenth round.
The opening round saw Miller chase the Brit around the ring. Dubois was the quicker of the two and landed a number of punches that saw no response from the American. This remained the case for most of round two. Miller began to open up but did not have success until the final 20 seconds of the round. That portion of the fight saw both heavyweights swing at each other with hard hooks.
“Big Baby” mostly threw swinging shots at his opponent, missing many. Dubois’ strategy was to box off the back foot, but he would also trade swinging shots with Miller. The numerous body shots also appeared to impact Miller. He grew more and more exhausted as the fight wore on. Dubois appeared to be unaffected by anything the American landed.
The accumulation of punches eventually rewarded Dubois with the knockout. Miller continued to get hit cleanly with winging shots, and an eventual barrage of punches forced referee Michael Alexander to step in and wave the fight off. Before the fight, Frank Warren spoke about the doubts levelled towards “Dynamite” regarding his commitment. Dubois spoke after the fight, and exclaimed: “I showed my heart.“
Make sure to stay up to date on the “Day of Reckoning” at Big Fight Weekend with the eventual final recap.
Currently writing out of Toronto, Canada, Saadeq first became a boxing fan while living in Doha, Qatar. Looking to become more involved in the sport, he began writing about boxing and has had work published in outlets such as Seconds Out and Boxing Social. He looks forward to continue covering boxing on Big Fight Weekend.
