Lion Heart Boxing Productions will introduce its Thursday Night Fights UAE to Dubai tonight (Thursday) with ‘May Day Mayhem’, showcasing world-class live professional boxing.

After putting on the first-ever live professional boxing event in Abu Dhabi in December and becoming the first non-UAE company to promote a professional fight in the UAE, Lion Heart views Dubai as its next market.

“Dubai could possibly be one of the mega cities of the future and there’s a lot of exciting things happening here already. Our goal is basically to be a market leader,” said Lion Heart CFO Edward Mendy.

“That’s what our vision is. Right now we’re ahead of everybody and as a result I think we’re going to see a lot of people fall behind us.

“I’ve never seen this many gyms anywhere in the world and it’s like almost every gym does boxing and MMA. Because you’ve got a huge amount of people participating in it, a huge amount of people involved with white-collar boxing, I think there’s a core audience as we look at it in our minds,” added Mendy.

The goal for Mendy is to eventually translate the success of Lion Heart’s Thursday Night Fights into a monthly, televised version in the UAE.

The inaugural Dubai event – ‘May Day Mayhem’ – features South African Francois ‘The White Buffalo’ Botha, who has previously fought a number of top heavyweight champions, including Wladimir Klitschko, Mike Tyson, Shannon Briggs and Lennox Lewis.

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In the co-main event, Brazilian Welterweight Champion Antonio Mesquita will take on French boxer Nordine Arik, while a number of local fighters are on the card, highlighted by 2012 Fighter of the Year Mohammad Ali Bayat.

The Emirates Golf Club’s ‘The Lawns’ will play host to the event and tickets are available for as low as Dh150 for general admission standing.

Lion Heart was created in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2001 by a group including Mendy and other boxing enthusiasts in the hope of delivering quality fights.

Mendy is a tax lawyer by profession and said the company started out as more of a hobby, and an expensive one at that. It has since grown and now Lion Heart has an established name in the boxing community and their international events have broadened their reputation.

While the potential boxing market in the UAE is untapped, Mendy acknowledges there’s risk, especially after the Abu Dhabi event, which he considers to be a success, lost Lion Heart money for the first time in eight years.

“I think the challenge we have with professional boxing is that people just don’t know it because they haven’t seen a lot of it here,” said Mendy. “Because there’s no professional sanctioning body, the standards vary. The product is not consistent and the rules and regulations are not consistent.”

Another issue Mendy encountered in the lead-up to the Abu Dhabi event was when fighters had difficulty obtaining visas and sponsors pulled out.

Though the company learned from its last venture, Mendy said navigating through Dubai’s several compliance procedures this time was more difficult.

Nevertheless, Lion Heart appears to have broken a barrier for promoters and fellow companies should follow suit, allowing live professional boxing to flourish in the UAE.

Mendy said: “We believe that as we do more shows, I think more promoters will feel more comfortable and take the time necessary to learn about the people, the culture and the regulatory maze that is involved with putting together an event here.”

WHAT: ‘May Day Mayhem’ as part of inaugural Thursday Night Fights UAE at the Emirates Golf Club’s ‘The Lawns’
WHEN: Thursday, May 1. Doors open at 6pm 
COST: Ticket packages start from Dh150
Sport360 VERDICT: Don’t miss out on a rare opportunity to see world-class live professional boxing in Dubai. A number of renowned fighters highlight the card, headed by Francois ‘The White Buffalo’ Botha, sure to provide thrilling entertainment.
CONTACT: Visit lionheartboxingproductions.com