Boxing: Anthony Joshua tours fight venue after arriving Saudi Arabia
Anthony Joshua got his first good look around the Diriyah Arena with less than two weeks before his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr.
The British heavyweight was shown around the custom-built 15,000-seater stadium on Sunday having earlier landed in Saudi Arabia along with his entourage.
Joshua, who was handed his first professional defeat by Ruiz Jr earlier this year at Madison Square Garden in New York, is fighting in a bid to reclaim the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts and set up a unification fight in 2020 with WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Tickets have been sold to fans across more than 60 countries with the biggest demand from those in the United Kingdom, keen to see Joshua make a winning return to the ring.
The 10,000 square metre site has had up to 175 staff working on it during the construction phase with 350,000 different fixings set up ready for fight night.
Developers have used 295 tonnes of steel with 95 percent of the arena reusable after the box-office bout. It will take a month to take down and many of the resources will go to other projects.
Fight night will see 2,000 members of staff on site to oversee a smooth event.
The 30-year-old was all smiling on arrival with his entourage as he was met by some fans and attention now turns to avenge defeat with a performance that boxing fans will speak of for years to come.
With four of the five heavyweight division belts on the line and Joshua’s credibility at stake, there is a lot of pressure on the Watford-born fighter ahead of the rematch.
But Joshua appears relaxed despite the pressure and was in high spirits as he arrived at King Khalid Airport in Riyadh.
‘It’s going to be an incredible night and I’m thrilled so many of my fans are going to be there, particularly from the UK,’ Joshua said.
‘It’ll definitely be a night people will tell their grandchildren they were at, one of those iconic evenings of boxing. Everyone from Saudi has been brilliant to work with.’
Now having touched down in the country, Joshua will set-up his pre-fight training camp in a bid to acclimatise in the build-up to the fight.
His promoter, Eddie Hearn, shared a video of Joshua being shown the facilities inside the purpose-built arena.
The ‘Clash On The Dunes’, as the fight is being dubbed, is the first World Heavyweight Boxing title fight to be held in the Middle East.
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Joshua and defending champion Ruiz Jr will fight at the custom-built 15,000 seat Diriyah Arena in the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Victory is essential for Joshua if he is to get his career back on track with 2020 set to be another box-office year in the heavyweight division.