Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk ‘decide rematch venue’ for July 23 bout

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Anthony Joshua’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk is reportedly set to take place at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia. According to Sky Sports, the 40,000-seater stadium will host AJ’s return to the Middle East as he bids to win back the WBA, WBO, and IBF world heavyweight titles.

No date has been confirmed as of yet, but Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has told fans that the long-awaited second fight will take place on either July 23 or in mid-august.

“We are close to announcing AJ’s next fight,” Hearn said in an Instagram live Q&A session. “If you watched my Kugan Cassius interview yesterday you would have seen there was a slight delay, but the news is coming very soon.”

“We have agreed to a deal for the site, and the working date of July 23. We are pretty much ready to announce. When you question whether there will be a delay. If there is, you’re talking about two weeks, and it’s for no other reason than time to make sure we can promote the fight in the right way.

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“The fight is happening, the fight is agreed in terms of where it will take place and both sides have agreed — both sides have agreed to the deal, both sides have agreed to everything.”

Joshua lost his world titles in his first fight with the Ukrainian back in September of last year. The GB star was comfortably outpointed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and met criticism for not being aggressive enough in the original fight.

In preparation for the rematch, Joshua has enlisted the help of boxing writers’ 2012 Trainer of the Year, Robert Garcia, who is expected to change the Watford powerhouse’s approach to suit a more physical fight. Victory for AJ would not only see him regain his belts but also revive negotiations for an all-British showdown with Tyson Fury for the undisputed crown. Joshua and Fury were in talks to face each other in August last year, but the fight fell through after an arbitration hearing ruled that Fury must face Deontay Wilder for the third time.

According to Hearn, if Joshua beats Usyk in the rematch, then they will be targeting a fight with Fury for the end of the year. “I think you’ll see Joshua-Fury whatever happens, in all honesty,” Hearn said in the same Instagram live video. “But hopefully, we can see it for the undisputed world heavyweight championship in December.

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