The much-anticipated rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua has been rumored to be happening this June.
The availability of Usyk was questioned after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Even though he initially joined the army – Usyk has asked for special authorization to leave Ukraine and was granted the permission.
However, if contracts are not finalized next week, Anthony Joshua’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk would have to be pushed back even further into the summer.
This may cast doubt on whether the rematch will take place in the near future.
Many countries have offered to host the highly anticipated rematch but it turned out that Saudi Arabia is the front runner. Saudis offered a reported $90 Million to stage the boxing match.
This would be great – if it weren’t for the fact Saudi Arabia is currently the aggressor in the war on Yemen and has taken such extreme measures that human rights advocates have been trying to raise awareness wherever they could.
Of course, considering that the US dollar is backed by oil the United States seem to not be concerned about the effort. For those wondering at home, Saudis have waged war on Yemen for years now. CBC.ca reports:
Naturally the news that Usyk is about to give Saudi Arabia a PR push was not well received by human rights groups who criticized the decision due to Saudi Arabia’s terrible human rights record. Despite that the two seemed to be in agreement to host the event there.
Usyk has since promoted ways to donate to Ukraine in order to boost resistance.
Usyk needs to restore 22 pounds of muscle weight that he lost while dealing with the stress on the front lines against Russian troops.
Oleksandr Usyk’s wife had disclosed that when Russia invaded Ukraine, he dropped (22lbs)10kg in only a week.
The boxing match will still take place in one of Saudi Arabia’s two new luxurious indoor stadiums, one in Rhyad and the other in Jeddah.
‘We are speeding up the process but if we cannot make the official announcement next week we may have to push back the date further,’ Hearn says.
The timing has already moved from April to now July 23.
‘That is the agreed date for us all now,’ Hearn adds.
‘But if everything’s not finalized by next week we won’t be able to fit the world media tour into the fighters’ training camp schedule and it will have to go to the 30th or a week or so into August.’