Joshua v Usyk: when is title clash, what price are tickets and how can I watch in UAE?

All roads will lead to Saudi Arabia this weekend when Anthony Joshua prepares for battle with Oleksandr Usyk for a heavyweight battle for the ages.

Usyk will look to defend his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles against former two-time champion Joshua on Saturday, August 20, at the King Abdullah Sports City Arena in Jeddah.

The clash, billed as "Rage on the Red Sea", will be the second time the fighters have met after Joshua's defeat by a unanimous decision at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London last September.

Anticipation is high for the match, with the winner of the encounter possibly facing Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight title, even though Fury has maintained that he has retired from boxing – while also dropping hints of a comeback for the right price.

Boxing fans in the UAE have the opportunity of a lifetime to witness history this weekend. Here is all you need to know.

What

"Rage on the Red Sea" – Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk heavyweight title match

When

Saturday, August 20, 2022

Where

King Abdullah Sports City Arena, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Tickets

Tickets for the match begin from 375 Saudi riyals (Dh367) and go all the way up to 20,000 riyals (Dh19,500) for ringside seats. Tickets in all categories are still available and can be purchased on halayalla.com. Expats flying to Saudi Arabia from the UAE can also visit visa.visitsaudi.com for information on how to apply for their visit visas, as well as complete the process and receive their visas online by filling in and submitting the application form.

How to watch in UAE?

Fans can catch all the live action on MBC’s streaming platform www.shahid.net under the sports package of Shahid VIP.

Travel

Flights from Dubai to Jeddah take approximately two hours and 55 minutes, while the air travel time between Abu Dhabi and Jeddah is around two hours and 45 minutes.

Jeddah is also home to world-class infrastructure with a number of hotels and restaurants. The King Abdullah Sports City Arena is within 30 minutes' travel of the King Abdulaziz International Airport.

Fight card

The undercard is set to begin at 5pm local time, featuring fighters such as former WBA and Ring magazine super-middleweight champion Callum Smith, former two-weight world champion Badou Jack, as well as the first professional female fight in Saudi Arabia between British-Somali boxer Ramla Ali and Dominican boxer Crystal Garcia Nova.

The main event between Usyk and Joshua is expected to begin at 12.45am, with the ring walks expected shortly before.

While you're here

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Price: From Dh149,900

Brief scores:

Juventus 3

Dybala 6', Bonucci 17', Ronaldo 63'

Frosinone 0

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.”

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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