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Mike CoppingerESPN
Oleksandr Usyk defends his three heavyweight world titles in a rematch against former champion Anthony Joshua on Saturday at the Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (DAZN, 1 p.m. ET, with main event expected to start at 5:30 p.m. ET).
Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs), 35, of Ukraine, overcame a cut on his right eyebrow and dominated Joshua last September to score a unanimous decision victory to claim the WBA, WBO and IBF belts. And he expects to keep them.
“We learned from each other in the first fight, but this is a continuation and the first round on Saturday will be Round 13,” Usyk said during a news conference on Wednesday. “We had enough time to study each other. We were born to compete for life, for belts, for everything. The one who does not compete, does not win.”
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs), 32, of England, exercised his contractual right to an immediate rematch and vows to reclaim the championship Saturday.
“This is what competition is all about, setting goals I want to achieve and being disciplined enough to follow them through,” Joshua said. “[The belts], they mean something, but that’s all at the end of the target. It’s not like I’m skipping the process. I’m focused on the process.”
Fight in progress: Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Jose Alatorre, 4 rounds, junior welterweights
Results:
Ramla Ali def. Crystal Garcia Nova by first-round KO
Fight recap coming up…
Still to come:
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Title fight: Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua, 12 rounds, for Usyk’s WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles
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Filip Hrgovic vs. Zhilei Zhang, 12 rounds, IBF heavyweight eliminator
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Callum Smith vs. Mathieu Bauderlique, 12 rounds, WBC light heavyweight eliminator
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Badou Jack vs. Richard Rivera, 10 rounds, light heavyweights