UNEXPECTED: Surprise first fight set for Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua rematch undercard featuring former world champions
The first fight to be named for the Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua rematch undercard is one nobody saw coming.
Former world champion Badou Jack is seemingly set to face Richard Rivera on the show, which will take place on August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Jack is back on August 20
Jack is now 38 and campaigning in the cruiserweight division.
He previously captured the WBC super-middleweight title when he beat Anthony Dirrell back in 2015.
Jack famously fought on several of Floyd Mayweather’s undercards as he was signed with Mayweather Promotions at the time.
The Swedish-Gambian defended his WBC belt against George Groves with a spit decision win on the undercard of Mayweather vs Andre Berto in 2015.
Jack shared a draw with IBF champion James DeGale in their unification back in 2016, then moved up to light-heavyweight.
His first bout in the division took place on the undercard of Mayweather vs Conor McGregor in Las Vegas in 2017.
Usyk and AJ meet again in the main event
He stopped Nathan Cleverly to claim the WBA ‘regular’ belt at light-heavyweight.
However, Jack never won a full world title at light-heavyweight as he drew with WBC champion Adonis Stevenson.
Defeats to Marcus Browne and Jean Pascal followed before Jack opted to move up to cruiserweight.
His first fight in the division came in victory over Blake McKernan on the undercard of Mike Tyson’s return exhibition fight with Roy Jones Jr in LA in 2020.
Jack boxed on the undercard of Mike Tyson’s return
Jack has since put together a further three wins.
The first of these came on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather’s exhibition with Logan Paul in Miami.
And the most recent came on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather’s exhibition with Don Moore in Abu Dhabi.
Now, he will join another big card as the poster has emerged showing that he’ll box before Usyk and AJ.
