Raymond Ford is scheduled to defend his WBA featherweight belt against Great Britain's Nick Ball at Saturday's Riyadh Season event, which will feature a five-fight promoter’s showdown.  Also on the show, WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol will defend against Malik Zinad, a bout that will be accompanied by the aforementioned 5 vs 5 between Matchroom Boxing and Queensberry Promotions. 

Ford will face Ball for the WBA belt in what will be the first defense for the American. In addition, Deontay Wilder will face Zhilei Zhang at heavyweight, Daniel Dubois will fight Filip Hrgovic also at heavyweight, Austin Williams and Hamzah Sheeraz will fight at light heavyweight and Craig Richards will face Willy Hutchinson at light heavyweight. 

After the huge success of the previous Riyadh event where Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury, the boxing world is eager to know what Riyadh Season will bring next, and this event will be very special because of its composition and the fights it will feature. Ford arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and was welcomed by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh in a friendly ceremony. Now it’s time for him to acclimatize ahead of his defence of the crown.

5 vs 5 line-up:

 Zhilei Zhang (Q) vs. Deontay Wilder (M)