• Amnesty International has criticised choice of venue
Eddie Hearn has defended the decision to stage Anthony Joshua’s WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight title rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia despite the backlash from human rights organisations – and predicted that the negative publicity could make more people watch the fight.
Amnesty International have been among the groups to accuse the Saudi authorities of trying to “sportswash” their image by paying £83m to take the fight, which is being billed as the ‘Clash of the Dunes’ to Diriyah, on the outskirts of the capital Riyadh, on 7 December.
Written by Sean Ingle
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/aug/12/eddie-hearn-defends-joshua-v-ruiz-jr-rematch-in-saudi-arabia under the title “Eddie Hearn defends Joshua v Ruiz Jnr rematch in Saudi Arabia”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.