Four world title fights highlight tomorrow’s Ring IV pay-per-view event from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with David Benavidez vs Anthony Yarde and Devin Haney vs Brian Norman Jr headlining the show, and those are arguably the two worst fights of the top four on the bill.
A look at the card and some predictions. Who do YOU have winning tomorrow’s fights and leaving Riyadh with gold to end their boxing year?
Stream Benavidez vs Yarde, Haney vs Norman, and the rest of Saturday’s Ring IV card LIVE with DAZN!
David Benavidez vs Anthony Yarde
We’ve seen Yarde (27-3, 24 KO) in this sort of matchup before. He ran his record to 18-0 against pretty lousy competition, he fought Sergey Kovalev, he bravely lost. He won fights against two bad opponents, he got upset by Lyndon Arthur, he beat an also-ran, he won a rematch with Arthur, he added another empty win, he fought Artur Beterbiev, he bravely lost. Post-Beterbiev, he’s picked up three empty wins and another W over Arthur in a trilogy that wasn’t being asked for by much of anyone, and now here he is.
History says this is the level of opponent against whom Yarde, now 34, fights hard, shows he’s tough, and bravely loses because the depth in his skill set has always lagged behind the hype and the physique.
That said, I think Yarde has shown some marked improvement the last couple of years, including in the loss to Beterbiev, where he was stopped because everyone who isn’t as good as Dmitry Bivol has been stopped by Beterbiev.
Benavidez (30-0, 24 KO) is one of my favorite fighters and favorite stories of recent years. He’s entertaining in the ring, he really seems like he wants the toughest fights that he can actually get — and more than that, in that I believe he truly wants the fights that he hasn’t been able to land — and he’s a guy who had his issues that, I think, mostly centered on immaturity, and he looked in the mirror, took the responsibility for it, and put it all behind him. You hear young fighters who have been to the gym with him talk about him in recent years like a mentor, someone who isn’t afraid to share with them, hey, here’s how I almost screwed it all up, don’t make the mistakes I made.
What we see today is a matured, well-rounded fighter, a really confident guy who carries himself like a champion. I think Yarde’s a good opponent, probably as good as Benavidez was going to get right now, but it would be a real upset for him to beat Benavidez, especially with Benavidez looking more comfortable at 175 last time out, his second fight at the weight, than he did against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in his division debut in June 2024. I don’t think his power is quite what it was at 168, but he was never really a sensational, one-punch guy, either, and I think the difference we see now is what used to wear down guys into submission now might not quite get to that submission point. He still carries enough pop that it has to be respected and it will be felt.
Is this a headline fight worthy of being called THE BIGGEST AND GREATEST BOXING SHOW OF THE YEAR? No, I don’t work for DAZN or Riyadh Season so I don’t have to pretend Benavidez vs Yarde is suddenly a blockbuster. But it’s a fine matchup, could be a good, rugged fight, and the winner is set up for an even bigger fight next, if Dmitry Bivol can get back in the ring or if it winds up being Beterbiev, at least for Benavidez.
Prediction: Benavidez by unanimous decision
Devin Haney vs Brian Norman Jr
When this fight was signed, I said then and I’m going to stand by it now, this is a potentially terrible matchup for Devin Haney.
That said… Devin Haney and his father are smart guys about this stuff, and if they weren’t really confident that Haney (32-0, 15 KO) will out-box Norman and win the WBO welterweight title, I don’t think they take this fight. Jose Ramirez was smart, cautious matchmaking by the Haneys earlier this year. Got Devin back in the ring, got him a win, Ramirez is past his sell-by date and presented no danger, and more than that, Jose just doesn’t throw punches anymore.
Brian Norman is a different kettle of fish. I really love Brian Norman as a fighter, but I don’t want to trap myself in a delusion because I like watching him so much, either, or because I respect the dude’s hustle and hard work in getting himself into the mix and getting a world title. Devin Haney is skilled enough to out-box Brian Norman for 12 rounds, or enough of those 12 rounds to win the fight convincingly on the cards. There isn’t an active welterweight Haney can’t out-box enough to beat them.
But I also think Haney’s skill-set is a little overrated, I don’t think it’s as deep as has been made out, he’s really not some defensive master or super-slick like Floyd Mayweather or somebody, and more than that, even, I had a lot of questions about his confidence going into and then coming out of the Ramirez fight, even though on-paper, he won that handily.
Norman’s in his prime. He’s naturally bigger than Haney. He’s a good puncher and he’s aggressive, he wants Devin to have to fight him, and I don’t expect he’s going to come out there and give Haney the breathing room to get comfortable. Devin’s got a real good jab, when he’s using it well, he can control fights. And he’s very good with the jab-and-grab, which sucks to watch, but means he can land effectively, catch a judge’s eye, and then neutralize.
But it’s the aggression of Norman, and the confidence he fights with, that I would be scared about if I were in Devin’s corner. Any Devin Haney fight runs a high risk of being dreadful to watch, but I’m intrigued by this one despite past experiences. If Haney has a perfect or near-perfect night, he’ll win, and Brian Norman will get a “levels” reality check. My gut feeling is telling me that’s not the way it’s going to go, though, and that Haney at 147 just isn’t going to be able to do what he could at 135.
Prediction: Norman by TKO, round 10
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vs Francisco Martinez
Not as much chatty intrigue in this one as in the top two fights, but it’s the best fight on the card and the most meaningful to its division.
Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KO) has two world titles and universal P4P top 10 status. He’s been one of the best young stars in boxing the last few years, and at 25, you figure he’s got a long run on top to come, as long as just going up in weight doesn’t become an issue, and I think he’s good enough to do 118 very capably and quite possibly 122, as well. (I know we’ve seen a lot of remarkable weight-division climbs in recent history, but doing four divisions should not be considered a gimme, we should never let ourselves think that way.)
Martinez (18-0, 9 KO) does not have Bam’s hype or star push, but the 34-year-old Argentine can fight. His two road wins over Kazuto Ioka alone are enough to tell you this guy is very much for real, this isn’t a paper titlist or someone with a soft “0.” His wins over Jerwin Ancajas (twice) and Jade Bornea were quality, too.
I gotta go with Bam, because I just think he’s a better fighter, more gears he can go through. But I think it’s going to be his toughest fight yet. Martinez is smart, experienced, crafty, and very capable. He’s not a big puncher, but I think he’s good enough to push this the distance and end Bam’s four-fight stoppage streak.
Prediction: Rodriguez by unanimous decision
Abdullah Mason vs Sam Noakes
Though I may bristle at the over-hype of the show from the perspective of the top two bouts, it’s the second two after those fights that does have me excited. Rodriguez vs Martinez is a proper championship unification, the top two fighters at 115 lbs squaring off for most if not all the marbles. (Willibaldo Garcia has a marble, somehow or other.)
This one I love because it’s a meeting of good fighters on the rise, one a true prospect, one someone who is a smidge long in the tooth to be considered one, and they’re angling for their first world title against one another.
We’ll learn a lot about Mason (19-0, 17 KO) in particular, and Noakes (17-0, 15 KO), too, but the age difference between them means a lot, I believe. Mason, 21, is significantly younger, and he’s had a handful of matchups that were appropriate for level where he did exactly like you’d want him to do — Yohan Vasquez, Luis Lebron, Carlos Ornelas, and most recently Jeremia Nakathila. With a prospect like Mason, you match them at those levels on the way up, and you want to see them dominate. He did.
Noakes, 28, has won the British and Commonwealth and European titles at 135 lbs. He’s done all he can do short of a world title. I love Noakes’ style, I love watching the guy. Both of these dudes have shown power and some skill, and we also know Noakes can settle in and grind it out over 12 rounds and win handily, as we saw against Yvan Mendy and Ryan Walsh, guys who didn’t fold and he did what he needed to do. Mason, on the other hand, has never gone past the sixth round, and you have to wonder if Noakes and his team might lay off the gas a bit early with the intention of turning up the heat in the middle rounds, take it to those famed deep waters, and try to drown an opponent who just doesn’t have that experience.
Hardest fight on the show to pick for me, and it’s not that I don’t think the others are matchups that could, conceivably, go either way. I most believe in Benavidez winning, then Rodriguez, then Haney, and this one — I don’t even know if it’s 50/50 because there’s still so much more to learn about Mason. Noakes is probably right about a finished product, and he’s a good fighter. What this fight is and how it turns out will depend on how good Abdullah Mason really is. I’m taking my shot in the dark here.
Prediction: Noakes by split decision
