JEDDAH: With under a week to go to the biggest fight of the year, billed the “Rage on the Red Sea,” Anthony Joshua reflected on his first visit to Saudi Arabia in 2019 and how he is ready to “put on a show” for his second fight in the Kingdom: The rematch against Oleksandr Usyk.
At face value, Joshua’s ambitions are simple. “Last time here I became two-time champion,” he says, just days out from his rematch. “The sole aim now is to become three-time!” Scratch the surface a little, though, and there is a far greater depth to the goals of both the fighter and host nation.
The last time Joshua fought here he did so under similar circumstances. He went into 2019’s “Clash of the Dunes” in Diriyah bidding to reclaim the belts he had lost to his opponent just months earlier, and does so again in Jeddah after dropping those same titles to Usyk last year.
Joshua went on to outclass Andy Ruiz Jr. from start to finish in Diriyah, and the Briton, understandably, recalls the night with real fondness. “I have great memories from 2019,” he said. “Everything about the event was spot on.