PROMISING Scots boxer Luke Bibby is making a last-minute dash to Saudi Arabia to be part of the build up to Tyson Fury’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Bibby, 24, got a shock call from trainer Billy Nelson on Thursday telling him he’d been invited to Riyadh to fight Englishman Kirk Stevens.
The Saudis are organising a week of events to build up to the mouthwatering heavyweight duel on Saturday night.
Perth-born Bibby, who has racked up seven wins without losing a single round since turning pro in January, will compete after Fury and Usyk complete their public workouts on Wednesday and will be streamed live on YouTube.
He told SunSport: “It’s amazing, I got a call last week saying I might have a fight next Wednesday after the open workouts in Saudi.
“I didn’t hear anything else until Thursday when I was in the gym and my trainer Billy Nelson called to say it was on, let’s go.
“We are flying out on Sunday afternoon and it’s going to be crazy being involved in the build-up to one of the biggest fights in years.
“It’s brilliant to be in that position.
“There are events all week building up to Fury v Usyk and after the public workouts there are three fights and I’m one of them.
“It’s so last-minute that nobody is able to travel over so I’m just going with my coach and one of my team-mates.
“Just being involved in something like this is incredible.
“Hopefully this will be great for my development because this is where I want to be so the aim is to impress and hopefully get back again.”
Bibby got a taste of big fight weeks in August when he was part of stablemate Martin Bakole’s party as he took his place on Terence Crawford’s undercard in LA.
That allowed him the chance to spar in America but this time he’ll be in on the action for real.
Bibby said: “I went to LA earlier in the year with my team-mate Martin Bakole, who was on the undercard of the Terence Crawford fight.
“So I got the experience of travelling over to America that time, it was really good.
“I was there for a week with them and this is the same idea. But this time I’m fighting for real.”
Stevens, 34, is a Midlands Area champion so will give Bibby, a decade younger, a tough test.
The Scot’s last fight was an emphatic win over Nicaraguan Brayan Mairena six weeks ago.
So while this bout has come about late he feels in good shape and will be using the nine hours on Sunday afternoon’s flight to do his homework.
He said: “It’s obviously been really last-minute, this time last week we didn’t have a clue about this.
“So we’ll be using the time on the plane to do our homework and get prepared for it.
“He’s a Midlands area champion so it will be a nice fight but I’m confident in my ability to get the job done.
“I had a fight last month so although I had a small break I’ve been back in the gym for a few weeks.
“To be honest, I think that has done me the world of good because I feel great.
“I’m ready to put a performance on.
“Right now, all I’m thinking about is getting the job done and after that I’ll start looking forward to being there for the big fight on Saturday.”
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