Israil Madrimov and Magomed Kurbanov were denied the opportunity to participate in the grand arrivals ceremony on Monday.

The good news is that they are still afforded the chance to enter the ring this weekend.

The Ring has confirmed that Uzbekistan’s Madrimov was medically cleared to proceed with his 154-pound showdown versus Russia’s Kurbanov. The two will meet presumably with the vacant WBA title at stake on the Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou heavyweight clash this Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Madrimov (9-0-1, 6 knockouts) was forced to wait out the results of a second MRI exam. The Ring was previously informed that the first test presented a minor abnormality, which prompted a follow-up test. Madrimov, The Ring’s No. 6 154-pound contender, was officially approved by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) as fit to fight.

The BBBofC serves as the presiding commission for this weekend’s show in Riyadh.

Uzbek journalist Jalol Akhmedov was the first to report on Tuesday morning that the bout will proceed as planned.

The WBA has yet to publicly confirm that its 154-pound title will be at stake for the scheduled 12-round contest. It was widely reported that Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 was downgraded to ‘Champion in Recess.’ Multiple inquiries by The Ring was met with a response on Monday from WBA president Gilbertico Mendoza, who would only confirm that the sanctioning body was drafting a resolution on the matter.

Charlo remains The Ring champion at 154, but was previously relieved of his WBC, IBF and WBO titles.

Representatives for Madrimov filed a petition with the WBA to enforce his overdue mandatory title shot. The move placed on hold his previously agreed fight versus Kurbanov (25-0, 13 KOs). It proved to be a wise decision, as it has likely freed up the title for this weekend.

The delay in a final decision on the second medical exam was enough to force event handlers to omit any mention of Madrimov-Kurbanov during Monday’s grand arrivals ceremony. The pair of unbeaten contenders were the only fighters among the ten-fight card to not participate in the event which officially kicked off fight week.

With confirmation of the full WBA title in play, Madrimov-Kurbanov is the second title fight to grace this Friday’s DAZN/PPV.com Pay-Per-View event (1:00 p.m. ET, $69.99 USD).

The event’s other sanctioning body title fight pits a pair of top ten Ring featherweights. WBC featherweight beltholder Rey Vargas (36-1, 22 KOs), No. 3 at 126, defends versus England’s Nick Ball (19-0, 11 KOs), No. 10 at the weight.

The show also features three of the top five Ring-ranked heavyweights in the world. China’s Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs), No. 3 at heavyweight, will defend his interim WBO heavyweight title versus former full WBO titlist and No. 4-ranked Joseph Parker (34-3, 23 KOs).

Headlining the event, England’s Joshua (27-3, 24KOs), No. 2 at heavyweight, meets former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou (0-1 in boxing) in a ten-round pro boxing contest.

Joshua fights for the fourth time in eleven months, all since his back-to-back defeats to The Ring champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs). Their Sept. 2021 meeting ended his second unified WBA/IBF/WBO title reign. Joshua also lost to Usyk in their Aug. 2022 rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Ngannou’s lone pro fight kicked off ‘Riyadh Season’ and nearly produced one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. The 37-year-old Cameroon native dropped WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs), No. 1 at heavyweight, in the third round of their Oct. 28 meeting in Riyadh. Fury went on to win via split decision; his WBC title was not at stake in their ten-round contest.

Jake Donovan a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writer Association of America.

Follow @JakeNDaBox

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