5 epic moments from the Rage on the Red Sea event in Jeddah
One great night. 12 thrilling fights…
Aside from the highly anticipated rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City Arena, the stacked undercard had plenty to offer, too.
If you missed out, catch up on the epic moments from the Rage on the Red Sea event right here.
@whatsonksa Oleksandr Usyk successfully defeated Anthony Joshua in a nail-biting match in Jeddah to retain his heavyweight boxing titles ? #rageontheredsea #boxing #anthonyjoshua #oleksandrusyk #jeddah #jeddahsports #jeddahboxing #jeddahlife #jeddah_city #whatsonksa #saudiarabiatiktok #visitsaudi #usykjoshua2 ♬ RAMPAGE – GRAVEDGR
Oleksandr Usyk is still the unified heavyweight champion
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What a tremendous fight. Despite Anthony Joshua’s best efforts, Oleksandr Usyk took a second consecutive victory over the course of an epic 12-round battle in their rematch. The Ukrainian boxer earns a split decision victory, and the IBF, WBA (Super), and WBO world titles remain in his hands. Plus, he now takes the Ring Magazine strap, too.
Ramla Ali wins female first boxing fight in Saudi Arabia
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Believe it or not, this lasted only 65 seconds. British-Somali super-bantamweight Ramla Ali has made history as she won the first sanctioned female professional boxing bout held in the Kingdom. The 32-year-old stopped Crystal Garcia Nova in the first round with a smacking right hand to the chin, sending the Dominican’s mouthguard flying out of the ring.
Saudi boxer Ziyad Al-Maayouf wins a first professional boxing match
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Ziyad’ Zizo’ al-Maayouf has made history as the first athlete from Saudi Arabia to win a professional boxing match after knocking out Alfredo Alatorre in the first round. The Saudi native, now living in California, drew a huge reaction from the crowd when he defeated his Mexican opponent, who was also making his professional debut.
British light-heavyweight Callum Smith wins world title eliminator
IT’S ALL OVER ?
WHAT A KO FROM @CallumSmith23 ?#UsykJoshua2 #RageOnTheRedSea pic.twitter.com/45CmuBhlm5
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 20, 2022
It was another knockout victory in Jeddah for Liverpool’s Callum Smith. Fans were treated to an entertaining four-round brawl before Smith landed a brutal win over Frenchman Mathieu Bauderlique to earn an eliminator for the WBC light-heavyweight title. Smith’s victory on the undercard of the Usyk-Joshua rematch has put him a step close to becoming a world champion again. In 2018, Smith stopped George Groves in the same King Abdullah Sports City Arena to win the WBA super-middleweight title and become a season one winner of the World Boxing Super Series.
American rapper Russ lighting the thunder on stage
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In addition to the epic fights and an outdoor village, which saw a variety of fringe activities, the live performance by Russ further heated up an already explosive night of entertainment. Saudi’s favourite rapper sent the crowd excited, jumping around to pumped-up hits like “Too Many” and “Pull The Trigger”.
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