On December 21, around 11 p.m. UK time, Christmas will come early and every boxing fan will be stuck to their screens to witness the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk rematch. The highly anticipated rematch has the potential to be one of the best fights of the year. With Fury seeking vengeance, the stakes have never been higher.

However, other than the main event, the fans don’t have much to look out for in the Riyadh Season card as the other fights are severely lackluster. The only other fight that kept the event exciting other than the headline fight was the Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk bout. However, as the former WBA light middleweight champion bowed out of the fight due to an illness, His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh, had to replace him. This dropped the event’s excitement further. Now, a new opponent has been finalized to take Madrimov’s place against Bohachuk.

The Black Panther steps in for Israil Madrimov

Matchroom Boxing took to their ‘X’ account to announce that the Leeds native Ishmael Davis will replace Israil Madrimov. The caption read, “🔥 @ishmael.bp.davis once again proves he is about that life. Two weeks notice, no problem,” stating that the 13-1 boxer will fight on just a two weeks’ notice.

The post further clarified the situation and explained, “The Black Panther steps in for the unwell Israil Madrimov to face Serhii Bohachuk on the December 21 #UsykFury2 card ⚔️.” Madrimov was supposed to take on Bohachuk in the co-main event of the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch. However, on Saturday, the Uzbek announced that he would withdraw from the fight, citing an illness.

The post further highlighted the plans of the 10-1-1 boxer and elaborated “Madrimov will now recover and prepare to face Vergil Ortiz on #BeterbievBivol2, February 22 👊.” Surprisingly, Madrimov had already finalized his fight against Vergil Ortiz many days ago. Experts and cynics already predicted that the Khiva native would opt out of one of his fights.

The announcement even surprised Ortiz’s trainer who found it hard to believe that Madrimov would fight two tough matches within a span of two months. However, as the predictions turned out to be true and the 29-year-old opted out of the December 21 fight, it has affected the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk undercard severely to the utmost disappointment of fans.

Another miss on Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk undercard

A fan wrote, “I’ve seen better undercards at the local amateur boxing events,” making his disappointment with the undercard known. While there are certain exciting fights on the card, it gravely lacks the stardom that Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk undercard deserves. 

The undercard features six matches and only one title match, that too, between Dennis McCann vs. Peter McGrail for McCann’s European super bantamweight title. Other fights on the undercard are Moses Itauma vs. Demsey McKean and Johnny Fisher vs. Dave Allen, both in the heavyweight category, Isaac Lowe vs. Lee McGregor at featherweight, and newly added Serhii Bohachuk vs. Ishmael Davis at light middleweight.

Another user criticized the card and wrote, “Not a great card, good though! I’m hosting an event and only need to catch the main event live,” stating that he is thankful for the underwhelming card, as he can continue with his plans without bothering himself with other fights. Another fan wrote, “Deffo the worst undercard this is literally a York hall card 🤣🤣🤣,” while comparing the undercard to a local boxing tournament. 

Another user came forward and showcased his disappointment with the replacement of Madrimov. He wrote, “Come on who is that why not Xander zayas and the winner face madrimov v vergil win,” stating that the 22-year-old rising sensation Xander Zayas should have replaced Madrimov instead of Davis. He further pushed the idea that the winner of this fight should face the winner of Madrimov and Ortiz’s fight for the WBC Interim Super Welterweight title.

Another user furious with the undercard vented out their anger at the matchup being offered. “Shocking undercard and im not one to usually complain about undercards, fisher and itauma will walk through allen and dempsey, isaac lowe is shocking and the bohachuk madrimov fight has been cancelled, the only good undercard fight thats competetive is mccann mcgrail,” stating that the whole undercard is one-sided and lacks interesting matchups

While the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk 2 still remains as one of the highly sought out matches, the undercard is surely underwhelming. Considering that the pay-per-view is priced reasonably at £24.99 by DAZN, many fans would directly watch the main event.

What are your views on Israil Mardrimov’s withdrawal? Let us know your thoughts down below.