Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua 2 to be held in Saudi Arabia
Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua now have a venue for their long-awaited rematch.
The two men first faced off in September 2021, with 'AJ' looking to make a defense of his heavyweight titles. Despite heading into the contest as a big favorite, the Brit was easily outboxed on his home soil. He wound up losing to Usyk via unanimous decision.
Following the loss, Joshua activated his rematch clause to re-run the matchup. However, the bout has seen multiple postponements. 'AJ' nearly stepped aside from the rematch to allow Usyk to fight Tyson Fury before changing his mind.
The bout was then postponed due to Usyk's active enrollment in the Ukrainian military. However, he was granted clearance to leave the country in order to prepare for the rematch with Joshua. With the rematch now set, fans have been waiting for a date and venue.
One-half of that has now been resolved. Sky Sports Boxing recently broke the news that the bout will be held at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia. The arena has been used for WWE and boxing events in the past, and will now be host to one of the biggest boxing matches of the year.
While there's no date yet set for the rematch, it's previously been reported that it will take place in July. However, that date is yet to be fully set in stone.
See Sky Sports Boxing's post about Usyk/Joshua 2 below:
Anthony Joshua's rematch with Oleksandr Usyk is set to be staged at Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia.🚨 Anthony Joshua's rematch with Oleksandr Usyk is set to be staged at Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia.
Will Oleksandr Usyk defeat Anthony Joshua again?
Oleksandr Usyk will now look to repeat his performance from last September, but it's not going to be easy.
Since their initial showdown in the U.K., a lot has changed. Joshua notably changed trainers, leaving his longtime coach to enlist the help of Robert Garcia. 'AJ' has stated that he plans to stick to a gameplan for his rematch against 'The Cat'.
On the other end, Usyk has been through a lot. He enlisted in the Ukrainian military to defend his country from Russia's invasion earlier this year. While he later left the country to train for the rematch, he reportedly underwent a massive weight loss during the conflict.
While we're still months away from a rematch, it would be best to throw out everything that happened last September. Both men have changed a lot since their first encounter.