Usyk and Joshua get ready to rumble in Jeddah

JEDDAH: The increasing anticipation ahead of this weekend’s blockbuster World Heavyweight Championship rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua scaled new heights in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday evening. The traditional fight week press conference culminated with the ‘Rage on the Red Sea’ headliners facing off for the world’s media and VIPs in attendance.

With only three days to go before the reigning unified world heavyweight champion Usyk battles former two-time champion Joshua for the second time, the fighters and their teams topped the bill as a capacity crowd inside the coastal city’s Shangri-La Hotel and millions more tuning in from around the globe watched on.

Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn, who led the press conference proceedings, said: “This is the unified world heavyweight title between two greats of boxing. It doesn’t get any bigger than that. Oleksandr Usyk; an Olympic gold medallist, the pound-for-pound number one, former undisputed cruiserweight, and current unified heavyweight champion.

“Anthony Joshua; also, an Olympic gold medallist, became heavyweight champion in his 16th fight, unified the division in front of 90,000 people in his 19th fight, and has changed the face of the sport around the world. Two tremendous fighters, two tremendous athletes, champions, and ambassadors of the sport that people in Saudi Arabia and all around the world can be inspired by. It’s been an incredible week and the best is still to come.”

Unlike last time when he was widely considered the underdog before taking on Joshua, Ukrainian Usyk (19-0, 13 KO) enters Rage on the Red Sea as favorite following his impressive unanimous decision victory over the Briton. Billed as ‘The Perfect Storm’, last year’s