Anthony Joshua takes on Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, bidding to recover his lost world heavyweight titles in a crucial rematch.
11 months has passed since a fateful night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, when the ultra-slick Usyk delivered a punch-perfect display to dominate a dazed and sluggish champion, who relinquished the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO belts after only his second professional defeat and first since being stunned by Andy Ruiz Jr on his US debut two years prior.
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Joshua got his tactics badly wrong in north London, foolishly trying to outbox and outwit the skilled former undisputed cruiserweight king, who triumphed via unanimous decision with scores of 117–112, 116–112 and 115–113 and came within a whisker of achieving a deserved knockout.
The 2012 Olympic gold medalist has since split from long-time trainer Rob McCracken and travelled in search of fresh inspiration, going to America and eventually linking up with former super-featherweight world champion Robert Garcia.
The popular and charismatic Usyk has endured a difficult time since his crowning achievement last September, returning to his native Ukraine earlier this year following the Russian invasion and taking up arms by joining a territorial defence battalion in Kyiv.
He left back in March to prepare for his first title defence at heavyweight, where he has only fought three times as a pro, a huge bout with colossal stakes that has been dubbed as the ‘Rage on the Red Sea’.
Usyk is rightly seen in his war-torn homeland as an ambassador for Ukrainian resistance overseas and says he plans to return to Kyiv later this year.
Usyk vs Joshua 2 date, start time, venue and ring walks
Usyk vs Joshua 2 takes place on Saturday, August 20, 2022 at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The undercard fights are due to begin at 6pm BST UK time, which is 8pm in Jeddah. The ring walks for the main event should be around 10:30pm BST, with a precise estimated start time of 10:54pm. As ever, those times are subject to change.