The rematch between undisputed heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury has been announced for December 21 with the fight once again taking place in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk inflicted the first defeat in Fury's career when the pair met in Riyadh on May 18 when the Ukrainian came out on top in a split points verdict to become the first undisputed champion of the four-belt era.
Fury immediately called for rematch claiming that he had won the fight, despite receiving a standing count and being saved by the bell after a relentless Usyk onslaught in the ninth round.
The scorecards read 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk, with a third judge scoring it 114-113 to Fury leaving the Briton defeated for the first time in his 36-fight professional career.
“The rematch between the Undisputed Champion Oleksandr Usyk and the Champion Tyson Fury is now scheduled on the 21 of December 2024 during Riyadh Season,” Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's general entertainment authority, said in a post on X on Wednesday.
“The world will watch another historical fight again. Our commitment to boxing fans continues. We hope you enjoy it.”
Usyk's win meant he became the first undisputed world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999 after he added Fury's WBC belt to his WBA, WBO and IBF collection.
When asked if he was interested in the rematch with Fury, Usyk said: “I don't think about boxing now, because I started preparing in September 2023. Nine months, I missed New Year, birthdays of my sons and daughter, I missed all my family holidays. All the time I was only training, my only focus was this fight.
“Now I'm happy and I want to get back home. Go to my church, pray, and say thank you to Jesus, because for me and my country, this is a big moment. I'm grateful to everyone who prayed for me because it was a lot of people.”
But it has not taken long for the rematch clause to be activated and the second fight to find its way on to the boxing calendar, although it is unlikely that all four belts will be on the line again with the IBF planning to strip Usyk as he will not be facing its mandatory challenger next.
It looks likely that British fighter Daniel Dubois and Croatia's Filip Hrgovic will meet for the vacant crown on June 1, again in Riyadh, with the winner then poised to take on former world champion Anthony Joshua later in the year. This could potentially tee-up Joshua to take on the winner of Usyk-Fury II in the kingdom in the first part of 2025.
Hrgovic earned his place as their mandatory challenger by beating Zhilei Zhang in 2022 and has been patiently waiting for his shot ever since.
Frank Warren, who promotes Fury and Dubois, told Sky Sports last week: “He's [Usyk] done something no one else has done. He's unified the four belts. Four belts on the line is the start. I'm quite sure they'll fragment after that. And then it'll happen again.
“We're in such a good place as a sport and there are such good things happening you just can't see it ending, because there's so many good fights to be made.
“We've got the [Usyk vs Fury] rematch, provided AJ keeps winning [he can be in the mix], and then you've got all our youngsters coming through.
“Hrgovic and him [Dubois] is a great fight and the winner of that, I think everybody's going to be happy with who the winner fights.”
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Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
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Biog:
Age: 34
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite sport: anything extreme
Favourite person: Muhammad Ali
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich 1
Kimmich (27')
Real Madrid 2
Marcelo (43'), Asensio (56')
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
