Anthony Joshua will not be fazed by any backlash over his decision to fight Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua will attempt to win back his heavyweight world titles when he takes on the Ukrainian champion in Jeddah on August 20. The oil-rich country will splash out £100million to stage the fight, almost double the £60m they spent to bring Joshua's rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr to the desert in 2019.
But the Saudis have been accused of sportswashing after spending hundreds of millions of dollars to lure some of the best golfers in the world to their new LIV series. The launch of the new event follows the £300m takeover of Newcastle United by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia as well as lucrative deals with Formula One and WWE.