Anthony Joshua‘s highly-anticipated rematch against Oleksandr Usyk will take place in Saudi Arabia in June after a lucrative agreement was reached on Sunday evening, according to reports. The Watford-born fighter lost his world heavyweight titles to Usyk when the pair traded blows for the first time back in September and will be desperate to avenge his latest defeat with a much-improved showing at the next time of asking.
A mega-money deal worth around £91.6million was struck between the two camps on Sunday, with June 25 having been earmarked as the most likely fight date, according to the Daily Mail. It is claimed that the fee is significantly higher than the financial package shelled out by the Saudi government for Joshua’s second fight against Andy Ruiz Jr, which took place in Riyadh nearly three years ago.
Joshua took home the vast majority of that purse but it is expected that Usyk, as the defending champion, will receive at least half of the total prize money from his rematch with the Brit later this year. The Ukrainian fighter was given permission to leave his country earlier this month in order to prepare for his next fight with Joshua after previously enlisting in the military to defend against the ongoing Russian invasion.
The Saudi government have invested no shortage of money in sport in recent years in order to help build their reputation amid numerous human rights controversies. They signed a hugely expensive deal with Formula One to host the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix back in 2020, with the inaugural race being held on the streets of Jeddah towards the end of last season.
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Saudi Arabia pays just shy of £42m per year to host the event, which represents the joint-highest fee paid by any venue to stage a Grand Prix weekend. Meanwhile, the country’s Olympic Committee announced back in November that it would spend around £530m creating about 90 sports federations in order to train athletes from scratch to be world champions.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Usyk will be able to defend his heavyweight belts against Joshua in Saudi Arabia when hostilities are renewed between the two fighters in June. Fellow heavyweight champion Tyson Fury recently insisted that Usyk will have little difficulty in brushing his rival aside once again but insisted that he is yet to prove his worth in the division since moving up from cruiserweight in 2019.
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“AJ’s a big old bodybuilder, he ain’t worth a carrot,” said Fury earlier this year. “He [Usyk] fought a bodybuilder who’s not even a boxer and had a life-and-death [fight]. Until he fights a real fighting man you can’t call him a champion.
“Usyk will beat him [Joshua] in the rematch, yet again, because AJ’s a bum, he can’t fight. He’s been exposed. He’s a cross-fit bum and that’s all I want to say.”
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