Oleksandr Usyk dethroned Anthony Joshua as heavyweight champion at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2021
(Picture: Getty Images)London is facing competition from Saudi Arabia to host Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, with June 25 the preferred date.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has always made it clear that London remains the preferred option for the fight, with Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which hosted the first bout, and Wembley Stadium the two venues in contention.
But Saudi, where Joshua won his title rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr in December 2019, has now entered the fray with a reported prize purse offer of £80million.
Joshua lost the heavyweight world titles for the second time in his career back in September after being outboxed by Usyk in front of his home crowd.
Usyk had been fighting in his native Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion but has since relocated to prepare for a second Joshua fight.
Hearn has insisted that nothing has been signed but confirmed that Saudi Arabia, along with London, is a site option as host.
