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Irish Mirror

Sport

Robert Hynes

What time and TV channel is Oleksandr Usyk v Anthony Joshua 2 on tonight?

Anthony Joshua Oleksandr Usyk IBF WBA WBO Saudi Arabia Eddie Hearn

Anthony Joshua will aim to win back his heavyweight belts when he faces Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.

The Englishman lost the WBA, IBF and WBO belts to the Ukrainian at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium almost a year ago, with the rematch delayed due to Russia’s invasion of Usyk’s native Ukraine.

As a result, Joshua comes into this fight as the rematch as the underdog - something Eddie Hearn feels his fighter is relishing.

Usyk had been expected to weigh-in much heavier than he did for last year's fight, but he only tipped the scales half a pound heavier on Friday.

Meanwhile, AJ has weighed in at 17st, 6lbs and 8oz - up from 17st 2lbs (240lbs) from last year's fight.

Here's everything you need to know about the bout:

Where and when is it?

The fight takes place at the indoor arena at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, August 20.

What time does the action start?

The first of 11 fights is expected to start at 3pm Irish time.

When is the main event?

The ring walks for Usyk v Joshua are scheduled to start around 10.30pm, with the fight expected to start at 10.54pm.

What TV channel is it on?

Sky Sports Box Office will show the fight live in Ireland for a cost of €31.95.

You can also follow updates with The Irish Mirror's live blog.

Undercard

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

Quotes corner

Anthony Joshua: “It’s good to be back in Saudi Arabia. We’ve been here four weeks now, this is our fifth week. It feels like a second home, it’s been nice.

“May the best man win at the end of the day. I’m praying for victory and praying for a good fight as well. I want to do it this time.

“I’m going to come out…ding ding ding round one. Good defence, thinking positive, step forward…boom boom…one-two…Usyk drops…Joshua becomes three-time champion of the world in Saudi Arabia. Life is good!”

When asked if the rematch was the biggest fight of his career, Joshua added: “Yes, most definitely. I’ve felt that pressure in my camp, 100 per cent. It has pushed me on.”

Oleksandr Usyk: "In every fight I am fighting for my people. I want my fans to be happy with what I am doing and that’s why I’m doing it,” the former undisputed cruiserweight champion said.

“We are a boxing country. We have many boxers who have been on top for many years and people get used to that, they want high-level boxing, so we need to give them the thing we’re used to.”

Anthony Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn: “The pressure’s off. I know he must win, but now he’s the underdog and people aren’t expecting him to win.

“He’s had to carry British boxing on his shoulders for years and years and that pressure has got to him. It’s arduous.

“People see this guy with belts, fame and money and just presume that’s a great life. But on the other foot, he’s also a young man who just wants to chill out and play football with his mates in the park, go for a coffee and do all these normal things he’s not able to do.

“It may not be as pleasing, exciting or entertaining, or provide as much happiness, as you might think. And he’s felt a lot of that pressure over the years because it’s a bubble he lives in.”