ANTHONY JOSHUA and Oleksandr Usyk’s huge heavyweight rematch is getting closer and the final touches are being made to preparations.
But before the mouth-watering main event in Saudi Arabia there’s a stacked undercard, which includes an historic fight.
And there are TWO world title eliminators are on the bill that are unlikely to disappoint.
Man mountain Filip Hrgovic will take on China’s Zhang Zhilei in the IBF heavyweight division’s final eliminator.
With both men unbeaten, something will have to give on August 20.
Croatian Hrgovic and Zhang were initially set to fight on May 7 on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez’s defeat to Dmitry Bivol.
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After Hrgovic pulled out for personal reasons, Zhang instead made light work of America’s Scott Alexander.
The second eliminator will see Brit former world super-middleweight champ Callum Smith take on Frenchman Mathieu Bauderlique.
While Ramla Ali will take on Crystal Garcia Nova in what is set to be an historic bout.
Ali vs Nova will be the first ever professional women’s boxing match to take place in Saudi Arabia.
On the magnitude of the occasion, Ali told ESPN: “It’s such a monumental thing to happen in Saudi.
“Me and my opponent, we’re essentially making history together so it’s not just me. It’s someone else as well, we’re both going to be the first females to be in Saudi.”
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When is Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk?
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk takes place on Saturday, August 20.
The fight is expected to start at 11pm UK time – this is 1am in Saudi Arabia.
The Jeddah Super Dome – with a capacity of 40,000 – plays host.
Who is fighting on the Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk undercard?
The undercard is set to start from 3pm UK time. Times in brackets are the estimated start time of each fight.
- Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk 2 (10.54pm) – World heavyweight championship WBA ‘super’, IBF, IBO and WBO – 12 rounds
- Filip Hrgovic vs Zhilei Zhang (9.52pm) – IBF heavyweight final eliminator – 12 rounds
- Callum Smith vs Mathieu Bauderlique (8.50pm) – WBC light-heavyweight final eliminator – 12 rounds
- Badou Jack vs Richard Rivera (7.18pm) – cruiserweight – 10 rounds
- Ziyad Almaayouf vs Jose Alatorre (6.48pm) – super-lightweight – 4 rounds
- Ramla Ali vs Crystal Garcia Nova (6.10pm) – super-bantamweight – 8 rounds
- Andrew Tabiti vs James Wilson (5.24pm) – heavyweight – 8 rounds
- Ben Whittaker vs Peter Nosic (4.46pm) – light-heavyweight – 6 rounds
- Daniel Lapin vs Josef Jurko (4.03pm) – heavyweight – 8 rounds
- Bader Alsamreen vs Faud Tarverdi (3.30pm) – super lightweight – 6 rounds
- Rashed Belhassa aka Money Kicks vs Traycho Georgiev (3pm) – welterweight – 4 rounds
🥊 AJ vs Usyk 2 date, live stream and TV channel for blockbuster rematch
What TV channel and live stream is Joshua vs Usyk on?
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
