It’s finally official: The world heavyweight title rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua will go ahead on August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
A fight that has been months in the making will mark the debut of Joshua boxing on DAZN after it was announced on Monday that he had signed a deal with the streaming service. The new chapter for Joshua marks the end of his long-term association with Sky Sports.
A new broadcasting deal and a new trainer in his corner too for Joshua who is looking to reclaim the three belts he lost to Usyk last September. Having parted ways with long-time trainer Robert McCracken the leading voice in Joshua’s corner on August 20 will be Robert Garcia.
While the Brit has had a busy year 2022 has been a heart-breaking one for Usyk. The Ukrainian put his boxing career on hold in March to take up arms with his compatriots in the fight against Russia’s invasion of his country.
In April after departing Ukraine to begin training for the Joshua fight Usyk spoke about the war revealing that friends were missing and relatives had lost their homes.
“I have to get rid of such thoughts as much as possible in order to be prepared well for the Joshua fight,” he said at the time.
Since then, it has appeared like business as usual during camp for August 20.
Usyk will hope to repeat the performance he delivered last year which saw him outclass Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to become the WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight champion.
The winner of the August 20 rematch could tempt WBC champion Tyson Fury out of retirement for a mammoth undisputed fight later this year.