- Updates from the rematch in Jeddah – 10.54pm BST start
- Get in touch! Email Bryan or tweet @BryanAGraham
Tonight’s fight is taking place at the King Abdullah Sports City complex, a sprawling site with outdoor sports field, a 10,000-seater arena – where the card is taking place – and, dominating the space, the Jeddah Super Dome, a huge spaceship-like stadium that has hosted various events in past, including the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018.
The 35,000-seat Super Dome was meant to stage this fight but, somewhat embarrassingly, they couldn’t fill it. The arena has been less than half full most of the night, although I’m guessing it will be full by time Joshua and Usyk do battle, which is approximately 1am local time. It’s also very hot and humid here still, although the air conditioning turned up so much in the media centre that I’m having to wear a jumper. Also, the food is sensational. Just eaten some lovely rice and shredded beef. There’s loads of little cakes, too.
Joshua firmly believes he can avoid a third defeat in his 27 fights, the other being his shock stoppage at the hands of Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019, and instead is setting his sights on becoming a three-time heavyweight world champion, having previously reclaimed his titles with victory in his rematch with Ruiz Jr in Riyadh six months after their initial contest. In his return to Saudi Arabia, the 32-year-old also addressed the idea that a second defeat to Usyk would be a fatal blow to his future prospects, insisting that is unfair in as much as it his call.
“It’s up to me at the end of the day, it’s not up to anyone else what I do with my career,” said Joshua. “I don’t have to do this. Why do I do it? It’s because it’s all I know.