The rematch will be held in Saudi Arabia, because reasons.
The rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua finally has a date and venue.
Matchroom Boxing announced on Sunday that the two heavyweights will meet again on August 20th at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Joshua previously fought in a makeshift stadium in Diriyah back in 2019, when he beat Andy Ruiz in their rematch.
Ukraine’s Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) is without a doubt one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist became the undisputed cruiserweight champion in 2018 after defeating Murat Gassiev, then jumped to heavyweight in 2019 after defending all of those cruiserweight belts against Tony Bellew. Wins over Chazz Witherspoon and Dereck Chisora soon followed, and as has been a theme of his throughout his career, won in enemy territory against Joshua by unanimous decision in front of 65,000 fans in London.
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) also won gold at the 2012 Olympics, and by 2016 he was the IBF heavyweight champion after easily dispatching Charles Martin. His classic against Wladimir Klitschko was almost like a passing of the torch in the division. In 2019 he was the overwhelming favorite to beat short notice replacement Andy Ruiz, but lost by knockout in his US debut and also his IBF, WBA, and WBO titles. As mentioned earlier he regained them in the rematch, defended those belts by TKO over Kubrat Pulev, but ceded them to Usyk shortly thereafter.
As an aside, Joshua has left Sky Sports and agreed to an exclusive deal with DAZN, which means that AJ’s UK rights have shifted to DAZN for the long-term. There’s no word yet on the broadcast details for this one.
August 20th will be a busy day for combat sports, as later that evening will be UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2 from Salt Lake City, Utah.