The official date and venue have been announced for the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua. The much-anticipated matchup between these fan-favourites is set to go on floor in August, and it will commence in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
In September, Usyk defeated Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London and won the WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO heavyweight titles.
Joshua (24-2, 22 knockouts) will now attempt to strike back and reclaim the titles, but in order to do so, he must accomplish something that no other fighter has been able to do throughout Usyk’s professional career: defeat the Ukrainian.
A rematch between the two fighters was scheduled for this spring, but Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) returned home to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression.
Usyk moved up from cruiserweight after he defeated Murat Gassiev to unify the division in 2018 then defeated Tony Bellew in one of the most memorable boxing matches of recent times at the Manchester Arena four months later.
In preparation for their rematch, the two have faced off at two different news conferences, the first in the host city of Jeddah and the second today in London. There doesn’t seem to be much animosity between them, but they do have a decent amount of rivalry.
Credit: Planet Sport
The 35-year-old Ukrainian, who was the only person to hold the undisputed cruiserweight championship throughout the four-belt era, eventually left Ukraine, reports https://sport.ua/. The athlete is set to start preparing for a rematch with Joshua, whose rematch has now been revealed.
After a particularly unpleasant exchange in Saudi Arabia, Eddie Hearn had to intervene and put an end to their protracted fight today, but it’s not nearly as heated as some other heavyweight fights. For instance, Tyson Fury, a fellow Brit, was not even permitted to fight Deontay Wilder during the fight week for their trilogy fight last year.
On June 29th, at his training camp, Joshua said, “It’s looking excellent. “In terms of old AJ, I’m still the same old G doing what I’m doing, grafting away, and listen, it’s a brutal and tough sport, especially when it comes to fighting these lefties. They are nightmares! I’ll have to work hard, hunker down, and resolve never to make the same error twice.”
In light of everything mentioned above, supporters will be eager to learn the date of the rematch as they prepare their pens and calendars for the marking.
Venue and date of the fight
The fight will take place on Saturday, August 20th, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. But the precise time has not yet been determined.
Since Saudi Arabia is well known for its human rights atrocities, Amnesty International has criticized the venue itself.
Credit: Getty Images
The economic affairs director of Amnesty International UK, Peter Frankel, stated that “we’d like to see high-profile athletic stars speaking out about human rights to break the evil spell of Saudi sportswashing.”
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the LIV series golf tournament are the other two marquee sporting events that the Middle Eastern nation has been able to obtain. The nation is beginning to establish itself as a significant sports hub.
