Carl Frampton, the former world champion boxer, summed it up when asked how Riyadh Season boxing events differ from regular world title nights. "They just do it bigger and better," he said while working as a television analyst from inside Wembley Stadium early on Saturday evening.
At the time, a smattering of fans had taken their seats before it would soon fill to a British record 96,000-capacity attendance in time for the headline fight – a heavyweight world title showdown between IBF belt holder Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua, the former two-time unified champion and the biggest star in British boxing.
Their fight would act as the climax not only to what organisers hoped would be an exciting evening of boxing but to the week-long festivities, which began on Tuesday with the glitzy Grand Arrivals at Leicester Square in central London.
The open workouts on Wednesday, set inside Wembley Arena in front of a constructed Buckingham Palace, were enhanced by the staging of three professional bouts, including one involving Aadam Hamed, the son of British boxing great 'Prince' Naseem.
Thursday's press conferences were held in the grand and historic Guildhall before Friday's weigh-ins attracted a sizeable crowd to Trafalgar Square. A fan zone at Wembley's Boxpark was crammed with thousands of fans throughout Saturday and had visits from former heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury and other notable fighters past and present.
A stacked undercard – a hallmark of every Riyadh Season show, both in Saudi Arabia and now abroad – got the evening underway at Wembley Stadium and saw four absorbing and competitive bouts before Hamzah Sheeraz's two-round destruction of Tyler Denny to win the European middleweight title in the co-main event.
The build-up to the headline fight featured a spectacular fireworks display and a concert from Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher in his first performance since the announcement that the popular band was reuniting for a 2025 tour.
For all the glitz, glamour, and razzmatazz, and after months of planning, matchmaking, and ambitious logistics, Riyadh Season's hopes of the perfect UK debut rested on the main event – and boy, did it deliver.
The overwhelming majority of the near-100,000 fans inside Wembley roared their support for Joshua, who was aiming to complete his latest redemption arc by becoming a three-time world champion, an honour reserved for a select few all-time greats, including Muhammad Ali.
Dubois, on the other hand, may have been the champion, but he was treated as the B-side on Saturday night; he entered the ring first to boos and his name came second on the poster. Had it gone to script, the 27-year-old Englishman would have been a footnote in the latest chapter of the Joshua saga.
Instead, the fighter nicknamed 'Dynamite' blew that script to smithereens with each bomb he detonated to Joshua's head. He had his superstar opponent in all sorts of trouble right from the opening round and secured an emphatic stoppage in the fifth, bringing to an end a riveting, edge-of-the-seat heavyweight contest and providing a fitting finale to a spectacularly successful debut for Riyadh Season in London.
"Are you not entertained?" Dubois said after the biggest win of his 24-fight career. "It's been a journey and I'm grateful to be in this position. I'm a gladiator, I'm a warrior until the bitter end. I want to get to the top of this sport and reach my full potential."
Dubois will now have a close eye on the next big Riyadh Season heavyweight boxing event, which will return to Saudi Arabia and will see unified champion Oleksandr Usyk face Tyson Fury in a rematch of their all-time classic on December 21. A showdown with the winner for all the gold will inevitably be discussed for some time in 2025.
Many fans – and certainly most commercial partners – would have hoped it was Joshua instead of Dubois waiting in the wings for a crack at either Usyk or Fury. That may still be the case. Despite the savage beating he received in London, Joshua insisted he won't be walking away from boxing, with his promoter, Eddie Hearn, saying it was a "given" his fighter would target the rematch.
Dubois, however, has proved himself a worthy adversary to challenge for the undisputed title, and while he did lose to Usyk last year, the IBF champion has drastically improved, both in skill and maturity, since then.
However it all plays out over the coming months, the fights will keep coming, and Riyadh Season will continue to deliver "bigger and better" shows both at home and around the world.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The biog
Siblings: five brothers and one sister
Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota
Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym
Favourite place: UAE
Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera
What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books
CREW
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Napoleon
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
Last 10 NBA champions
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
