Anthony Joshua’s bid to win back three of the world heavyweight titles from Saudi Arabia’s Oleksandr Usyk later this month will be shown on Sky Sports Box Office.
Sky surpassed DAZN for the rights to the match in a high-stakes deal, despite Joshua leaving Sky after nine years on a multi-year, multi-fight deal with DAZN, reportedly worth $100 million a year (£ 83 million).
The bidding process reportedly reached over $28 million (£23.3 million). The Saudis reportedly paid £98 million to host the match at the King Abdullah Sports City Arena in Jeddah on August 20.
Joshua’s DAZN deal was announced in mid-June, but with Sky claiming the broadcast rights, it represents a major boost for the television network, given Joshua’s high-profile departure.
Joshua lost the WBA, WBO and IBF belts to Usyk on points last September in London. Talks are already underway for the winner to face Tyson Fury, the WBC champion, when he returns from retirement in early 2023.
Eddie Hearn, who was instrumental in convincing Joshua to switch to digital sports streaming platform DAZN with whom the promoter has an exclusive deal, will remain the event promoter. Usyk and Joshua will make around £50 million each. Usyk, 35, now considered one of the top four pound-for-pound boxers in the sport, is going into the sequel as a favorite.
What is it?
A world heavyweight fight between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk for the IBF, WBA and WBO titles.
When is it?
The fight will take place on Saturday, August 20.
Where is it?
The competition will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
How to watch Joshua-Usyk 2 on TV
See above: the fight will take place on Sky Sports
What is our prediction?
Gareth A Davies, boxing correspondent
If Joshua wins, it will be because he implements his trained pressure game plan in the early rounds and gets a stoppage in the first seven rounds. If Usyk wins will it be by resisting the early pressure, countering and winning on points or by a late break between rounds 7 to 11. If I should bet on it? Usyk
Latest news
Anthony Joshua says he is determined to be “the comeback king” and avenge his defeat.
Joshua insists he is ready for Usyk this time. “He was better than me in the first fight that night, but the defeat motivated me,” said Joshua. “Like I did against Andy Ruiz Jr., I have a second chance. Those who know my story know that I did that as a youngster, where I got into trouble.”
“I’m the comeback king, you can knock me down, but you can’t stop me. I’m 100 percent focused on being a champion again. He kicked me a few rounds, and he was the better man on the night.”
Usyk, who served three months in the territorial regiment in his home country this year fighting the Russian invasion, said one of the most difficult moments of his life was explaining to his children why Russian soldiers “want to kill them.”
“I don’t even know how to explain all this,” said the fighter whose house was at one point taken over by Russian soldiers. “My children ask ‘father, why do they want to kill us?’ And I don’t know what to answer them.
“I really didn’t want to leave our country, I didn’t want to leave our city. At one point I went to the hospital where soldiers were wounded and rehabilitated from the war and they told me, asked me to go, to fight, to fight for the country, to fight for our pride. If you go there, they said to me, you are going to help even more for our country instead of being here and fighting within our country.”
Speaking through interpreter Egis Klimas, his boxing manager, Usyk added: “I know that many of my closest people and friends, close friends, are now fighting on the front lines. What I am doing now is my way of supporting them With this fight I want to bring them some kind of joy.
“My family is not in Ukraine, but many people I know, my good friends, are in the country. I have contact with them every day and I monitor their feelings, if they are in a safe place.”
“Every day I was there I was training, and I asked God ‘please don’t let anyone rob the children, please don’t let anyone shoot me, and please don’t let me shoot another person. But if I would have done it if I felt in danger, if my life was in danger, or if my family’s life was in danger. I should have.”