By Charles Brun: Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk 2 rematch will be shown on Sky Sports PPV for the steep price of £26.95 on August 20th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
There’s no word yet for how much U.S fans will need to pay to see Joshua vs. Usyk II, but it’s reasonable to assume it’ll be going for $80 on PPV.
Given the increase in price for the Usyk-Joshua 2 rematch, you can expect a lot of boxing fans will turn to piracy to watch the fight on illegal streams or wait until immediately after the contest to see it for free on Youtube when likely to be quickly uploaded.
Joshua being rewarded for failure
Fans aren’t going to want to pay the extra cost to watch a sagging fighter like Joshua fight on PPV. That’s like rewarding someone for their failure, and it doesn’t make sense in the real world. When you fail, you don’t get raises in real life, and Joshua shouldn’t be getting one here.
With so many boxing fans interested in seeing if the unified heavyweight champion Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) will defeat Joshua for a second time and send him into retirement, Sky Sports will benefit from that.
Joshua’s career is literally hanging in the balance, and even if he doesn’t hang up the gloves immediately after losing a second time to Usykk, he’ll be finished as a top-grade fighter.
That’s the intriguing part about the Usyk-Joshua II fight. Can AJ temporarily save his sinking nine-year professional career, or will he get humiliated again and sent to Palookaville?
Charles Brun is betting that Usyk beats Joshua for a second time, but this one will be way, way worse, thanks to his new coach Robert Garcia.
His coaching model is to have his fighters bum rush their opponents in a sink or swim mode. When it works, Garcia looks like a genius, but when it fails to work, he’s open to criticism.
The continual climb in price for UK boxing fans to pay to see Joshua’s fights doesn’t make a lot of sense, given his lack of success inside the ring.
We’re seeing AJ’s prices for PPV going from 19, 24, and now 27. Something is wrong with this picture. In reality, Joshua’s PPVs should be going in the opposite direction by getting cheaper rather than more expensive.
The former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) has lost two of his last three fights, and he’s expected to lose
“Sky Sports viewers have enjoyed a long history with AJ, watching his every fight since he turned professional in 2013,” said Adam Smith to Sky Sports about Anthony Joshua.
“We also know Oleksandr Usyk very well, having had the last four of the Ukrainian’s fights exclusively live on Sky Sports.
“This rematch is a massive occasion with everything on the line and so many questions to be answered.
“We can’t wait to bring it to boxing fans in the UK & Ireland in true Sky Sports fashion with all the build-up it deserves,” said Smith.
