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Buatsi-Smith, Fisher-Allen: Five memorable all-British fights in Saudi Arabia
This weekend, Moses Itauma faces the toughest challenge of his career to date when he takes on veteran Dillian Whyte, headlining a card out in Saudi Arabia that will be shown live on DAZN.
Saudi Arabia has played host to many memorable fights over the years, including Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury’s duels in 2024, as well as the undisputed bouts between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Whilst plenty of shows in Saudi Arabia have pitted fighters from all over the globe against each other, there have been some enthralling contests between British fighters out in the Middle East.
Johnny Fisher-Dave Allen
Dave Allen has cut an enigmatic figure in British boxing, with some believing that he could have reached higher peaks in his career. Heading into the contest, Johnny Fisher was a rising prospect for Matchroom Boxing, ‘The Romford Bull’ boasting a strong army of followers thanks to the internet fame of his father, Big John.
Fisher started the contest strongly, but punched himself out, allowing Allen to take control. A fifth-round knockdown of Fisher turned the bout in Allen’s favour, but the judges did not agree. That proved pivotal as Allen was unable to finish Fisher off.
‘The Romford Bull’ had done enough in the eyes of two judges, who both scored it 95-94, whilst the other had Allen clearly winning with a score of 96-93.
Even Big John admitted that Allen had deserved to win, with the pair teeing up a rematch for 2025. Rather than being chucked on the undercard of a bigger name, the pair headlined at London's Copper Box in May. This time, Allen made no mistake, knocking out Fisher in the fifth round.
Joshua Buatsi-Callum Smith
Beterbiev and Bivol’s second dance in February had an extremely strong undercard, with two world title fights and three interim belt bouts supplementing the main contest for undisputed status at light heavyweight.
Another light heavyweight contest was the surprise show-stealer, with Brits Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith producing an absolute slugfest. Fans in Saudi Arabia and around the world watched on as each fighter thew heavy punches.
Somehow, there was no knockdown for either fighter, a full 12-round spectacle that had to be settled by the judges. Smith took a unanimous decision victory that few would quibble with, although the three judges were not agreed on how wide the winning margin was. One had it at 119-110, whilst the others saw it far closer at 115-113 and 116-112.
Smith walked away from Riyadh with the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) interim belt at 175lbs, whilst Buatsi had at least shown he had both a granite chin and a lack of quit. Those who viewed the contest live on DAZN had seen an early contender for fight of the year.
Fabio Wardley–David Adeleye
Now on the cusp of a proper world title shot as the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) interim champion at heavyweight, a few years back Fabio Wardley was still fighting at British level.
Domestic rivals have long been known to trade barbs in anticipation of meeting in the ring, but David Adeleye took things one step further when he shoved Wardley on the red carpet, the latter mid-interview.
Already scheduled to fight one another, it was declared that there was no respect between the pair, adding an intriguing flavour to their fight on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s laboured win over Francis Ngannou in 2023.
It was the first time that a British heavyweight title-fight had been staged outside of the United Kingdom, and just the seventh time any version of the Lonsdale belt was up for grabs abroad, following one bout in Ireland in 2007 and five fights in Australia during the 1910s.
The referee had to repeatedly command both boxers to touch gloves at the start of the contest, highlighting the bad blood between them.
Adeleye started brightly, landing the more eye-catching punches, but eventually he resorted to clinching and holding to prevent Wardley from getting properly into the flow of things.
In the seventh Wardley landed a combination that saw Adeleye keel over. The challenger got back to his feet, but was clearly in survival mode, throwing anything to prevent the ref from stepping in.
However, Wardley would manage to fire off too many punches without reply, causing the fight to be called. Adeleye clearly disagreed with the decision, pushing the referee and throwing a half-hearted hook into his body.
Adeleye would receive a suspension from the British Boxing Board of Control, returning the following summer to win the English heavyweight title against Solomon Dacres before winning the British title he had missed out in April of this year, beating Jamie TKV.
After the fight, Wardley declared that he would have one more fight at domestic level before looking to push on – but that didn’t exactly go to plan for the Ipswich star.
Fabio Wardley-Frazer Clarke
Wardley’s plans of leaving the British scene and looking for fights on the world level were halted by a draw with Frazer Clarke in March 2024. A very close fight was scored a split decision draw, one judge scoring it 114-113 in favour of Wardley, one scoring it 115-111 to Clarke, and another seeing it as 113-113.
Clarke lost two points automatically, knocked down by Wardley in the fifth before being deducted a further point in the seventh for repeated low blows.
Many viewed the first bout as a fight-of-the-year contender, which teed up a rematch seven months later, with the pair swapping the O2 Arena in London for the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
But fans expecting another close affair would have been shocked when the bout ended inside the first round. A cagey start saw Clarke fare well with the jab, but in the final minute Wardley came to life. He hurt Clarke with a combination and continued to stalk his opponent towards the outskirts of the ring.
His next flurry connected with Clarke’s temple, who stooped to his knee in the corner. With his jaw clearly dislocated, the referee called the contest.
In a night headlined by the first Beterbiev-Bivol bout, Wardley had certainly turned a few heads.
Ben Whittaker–Liam Cameron
There was another all-British fight on the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard, with highly-touted prospect Ben Whittaker partnered with the experienced Liam Cameron at light heavyweight.
This bout would also turn heads, but not for the same reasons as Wardley’s stunning knockout of Clarke. With the International Boxing Federation (IBF) international and WBO global titles on the line, the pair had produced an even contest.
That was against the expected storyline of the fight, with Cameron causing Whittaker more trouble than assumed. In the fifth, both men were locked up in a Whittaker-initiated clinch, Cameron staggering the pair towards the ropes.
As the bell rang to end the round, Whittaker and Cameron toppled over the ropes and out of the ring, leaving both men in a heap. Whittaker complained of a leg injury, leading to the fight being called off. At the time, each fighter had one judge scoring it in their favour 58-57, but the third had it 56-56, leading to a rare technical split decision draw.
The pair would reunite in the UK in 2025, an improved Whittaker stopping the contest with an unanswerable flurry at the start of the second round in Birmingham.
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Watch Itauma vs Whyte live on DAZN
You can watch Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte live on DAZN on August 16. More information is available here .
