OLEKSANDR USYK has left Ukraine to prepare for his rematch with Anthony Joshua.
The Ukrainian had been set to clash with AJ again in the spring, before Russia’s invasion of his homeland KO’d initial plans.
Usyk, 35, returned to his country to assist on the front line, with Joshua’s future left up in the air.
The likes of Otto Wallin and Joe Joyce looked well positioned for a fight with the former heavyweight champion in the meantime, but Usyk’s return to training has quashed talks of another opponent.
Usyk took to social media to confirm that he was returning to boxing, writing on Instagram: “I decided to start preparing for a rematch with Anthony Joshua.
“A large number of my friends support me, all the rest of the good and peace.
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“Thank God for everything
”
Usyk’s team resumed talks with AJ’s camp over their rematch last week.
Confirming that his client had left Ukraine, Usyk’s manager Yaroslav Lordkipanidze told AFP: “He went abroad to prepare for the rematch.”
He added that his man had left the front line “several days ago” – but stopped short of confirming his current location.
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Usyk and Joshua are now likely to rematch in June, although the bout’s destination remains up in the air.
Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that they have received offers from the Middle East and US to host the fight – but the Matchroom chief wants it to take place in the UK.
He said: “We’ve had four or five offers from around the world.
“It’s effectively a split fight so they’re going to want to know the offers that are coming in to stage the fight.
“We’d like to do it in the UK, but there have been a lot of big offers to stage it abroad.
“We’ve had offers from the Middle East, a couple of countries in the Middle East, America, the UK, yeah.
“So I think we have to sit down with Alex [Krassyuk] and say these are the offers we’ve had and which one do we move forward with.
“We want the fight to happen before the end of June, so probably middle-to-late June, the latest would be the first Saturday in July, July 2.”
Eddie Hearn wants to stage a rematch in the UK
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