By Jim Calfa: Eddie Hearn would still like to place the Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk rematch in London, England in July to give AJ’s fans a chance to see him fight live.
Hearn isn’t going to push for London if it can make more money elsewhere, even if it’s to Joshua’s advantage fighting there.
It didn’t work in Joshua’s favor the last time he fought Usyk in London at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium last September, and the chances are it won’t help him in the rematch if it’s staged there.
Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) and his team would prefer the fight to be staged in Saudi Arabia or whoever it can make the most amount of money. If it were London, they would be all for the idea.
If you’re Joshua, you definitely want the fight in London because he fights better at home in normal cases. His last fight against Usyk was more of a divergence from the norm.
Joshua fought the wrong fight by trying to box Usyk, and he paid the price by getting outboxed by the talented 2012 Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine.
AJ has proven that he can win on the road when he dominated Andy Ruiz Jr. by a 12-round decision in Saudi Arabia in December 2019, and he should be able to do it again.
“I was told that he had a bit of a reaction to me saying I didn’t think it worked ethically for Oleksandr Usyk to fight in Saudi Arabia when he’s coming from Ukraine, under attack and under invasion from Russia and going to Saudi Arabia, which is doing similar things to Yemen,” said Gareth Davies to iFL TV.
“My opinion was that it doesn’t send the right humanitarian message for Oleksandr Usyk. That’s my opinion, but he [Eddie Hearn] doesn’t agree with me.
“He’s a businessman. I said at the time, it’s a good business move [to stage Joshua vs. Usyk 2 in Saudi Arabia], but I don’t think it’s a good move ethnically.
“Maybe that means Eddie is conforming the fight is being in Saudi Arabia on July the 23rd then. We are in a sport of opinion, and you have to give those opinions.
“Eddie does a phenomenal job. What he’s done in ten years in the sport is extraordinary. If he has to take it [Joshua – Usyk II] there, he has to take it there [Saudi Arabia] if it makes business sense.
“Hopefully, taking it there means Joshua wins, and Fury wins if he does, then we get another one back here or maybe he’ll take it to Saudi Arabia You never know,” said Davies.
