Boxing News
Sky Sports Lands British Broadcast Of Usyk-Johsua Rematch
The anticipated heavyweight title rematch for unified champ Oleksandr Usyk and former champ Anthony Joshua is gearing up for August 20th in Saudi Arabia. And, Wednesday afternoon a big piece to the broadcasting puzzle was learned. This, as popular Sky Sports in the U.K. landed the rights to televise the showdown.
Sky made the announcement that just like the first matchup last September that saw the Ukrainian Usyk upset Joshua in a great 12 round performance, they’ll have the call in the U.K. on a pay per view.
Who are you backing to win in the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk & Anthony Joshua? 👇💭 pic.twitter.com/6jI0aDjoCR
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) July 27, 2022
Adam Smith, Head of Boxing Development for Sky Sports, said: “Sky Sports viewers have enjoyed a long history with AJ, watching his every fight since he turned professional in 2013.
“We also know Oleksandr Usyk very well, having had the last four of the Ukrainian’s fights exclusively live on Sky Sports.
“This rematch is a massive occasion with everything on the line and so many questions to be answered. We can’t wait to bring it to boxing fans in the UK & Ireland in true Sky Sports fashion with all the build-up it deserves.”
Sky will offer the prime time pay per view for Europe for $26 British pounds or about $31 U.S.
The move comes on the heels Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn and his Matchroom Boxing promotion having announced a new exclusive deal to use DAZN streaming for Joshua’s future bouts.
Joshua had been with competitor Sky Sports for his entire career, since turning pro in 2013 shortly after his Gold Medal win at the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
Usyk is also a former Olympic champion, as well as the former Undisputed Cruiserweight World Champion Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) scored an impressive, upset decision over Joshua in his backyard of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London last September.
It was the second time in just over two years that Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) had lost his WBA/IBF/WBO world heavyweight titles. The first was to American Andy Ruiz in a shocking TKO defeat at Madison Square Garden in June of 2019. Joshua regained the titles in the same coincidental location, Saudi Arabia, on a 12 decision over Ruiz six months later.
Clearly, the rematch is a must-have for the rest of Joshua’s career or the exclusive Matchroom/DAZN deal won’t mean much.
A veteran broadcaster of over 25 years, T.J. has been a fight fan longer than that! He’s the host of the “Big Fight Weekend” podcast and will go “toe to toe” with anyone who thinks that Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard or that Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Deontay Wilder could have beaten Ali!
