On Saturday, Anthony Joshua will be looking for revenge when he rematches WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The native of Ukraine upset Joshua this past September, dominating the action over 12 rounds to take the titles. This time, Usyk will enter the ring as the favorite.
Usyk is a former undisputed cruiserweight champion who is now just one belt away from accomplishing the same feat as a heavyweight. That fourth belt, the WBC championship, is held by Tyson Fury, who has claimed he is retired, though many believe he’ll be coaxed back to the ring to face the winner of Saturday’s matchup.
For Joshua, Saturday is an attempt to become champion for the third time in his career. He also lost to Andy Ruiz in June 2019. Joshua was able to make the right adjustments in the rematch, easily winning the rematch.
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The other featured bout in the heavyweight division could produce a future mandatory challenger for one of the titles at stake on Saturday night when Filip Hrgovic and Zhilei Zhang are set to battle it out, Both veterans carry an undefeated mark with Hrgovic entering at 14-0 and Zhang at 24-0-1. Both have demolished their most recent foes with Hrgovic having scored 12 knockouts in his 14 pro bouts. Zhang, 39, has scored three stoppages in his four most recent appearances. His lone blemish came in February 2021 when he fought Jerry Forrest to a majority draw.
Plus, former super middleweight champion Callum Smith is back when he takes on Mathieu Bauderlique at light heavyweight. Smith held the WBA crown at 168 pounds before dropping the belt by decision to pound-for-pound great Canelo Alvarez. The 32-year-old Englishman decided to move up to 175 pounds following the defeat and debuted with a second-round TKO of Lenin Castillo in September 2021. Now, Smith gets another tune-up contest before potentially challenging for one of the major titles at light heavyweight in the future.
The action is all set to go down from the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night. The undercard action gets underway at noon ET with the main event ring walks expected at approximately 5:15 p.m. ET. The rest of the fight card and viewing information is listed below.
Viewing information
- Date: Aug. 20 | Location: Jeddah Superdome — Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Start time: 1 p.m. ET (main event set for approximately 5:30 p.m. ET)
- How to watch/stream: DAZN (subscribe now)
Usyk vs. Joshua 2 fight card, odds
- Oleksandr Usyk (c) -200 vs. Anthony Joshua +170, WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles
- Filip Hrgovic -1000 vs. Zhilei Zhang +650, heavyweights
- Callum Smith -1100 vs. Mathieu Bauderlique +700, light heavyweights
- Badou Jack vs. Richard Rivera, cruiserweights
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