Joshua finds himself in familiar position of trying to again regain heavyweight belts
Former unified titleholder is candid about what he faces in rematch with Usyk
While Anthony Joshua aims to become a three-time unified heavyweight titleholder, he is well aware that the reason that prospect is possible is because he lost the unified belts twice before in upsets.
First, there was the shocking seventh-round knockout to massive underdog and late replacement Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019 in what was supposed to be Joshua’s triumphant American debut in New York. Soon after, Joshua invoked his contractual right to an immediate rematch and six months later, in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, he boxed masterfully and took back the belts from a wholly unprepared and out of shape Ruiz in one-sided fashion.
Two fights later, Joshua took on fellow Olympic gold medalist, former undisputed cruiserweight champion and mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk because a deal to face British countryman Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight crown fell apart when Deontay Wilder won an arbitration case that forced Fury to fight him again instead of Joshua.
Joshua soon found himself back in the same position as he was after the first Ruiz fight. Joshua didn’t get knocked out, but Usyk hurt him several times and did a number on him en route to the upset win, 117-112, 116-112, 115-113, last September before a pro-Joshua crowd of 66,267 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in his hometown of London.
Once again, Joshua had lost the titles and once again quickly exercised his contractual right to an immediate rematch.
So, here he goes again, making a return to Saudi Arabia on a quest to again regain the belts on Saturday at King Abdullah Sports City Arena in the coastal resort city of Jeddah for a fight titled “Rage on the Red Sea.” The card will stream on DAZN in the United States and most of the rest of the world beginning at 1 p.m. ET with the main event at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET. It will air on Sky Box Office pay-per-view in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
“It’s part annoying because I sit back and I think, fuck man, if I would have just won that fight, I wouldn’t be doing all this shit and I’d be on to the next project,” — Joshua on facing Usyk again