THE port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is where Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk are meeting on Saturday in what, if the likes of promoter Eddie Hearn are to be believed, is a highly anticipated rematch.

It’s hard to square this claim with the first fight between them at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September last year, however, which turned out to be a largely one-sided affair, involving the Ukrainian former cruiserweight king schooling the 6'6" Brit to the point of humiliation.

In fact, AJ at points in the previous clash was all over the place, arms flapping around as he tried but failed to contain Usyk’s unrelenting pressure and skilful and judicious use of a jab that found the target with near consummate ease.

By the end of proceedings, AJ was as desperate for the closing bell as any fighter has ever been; Usyk by then having pinned him up against the ropes, where he was dismantling him.

Given the magnitude and margin of Usyk’s victory the first time round, AJ’s decision to trigger the rematch clause immediately afterwards will either prove his mettle or undoing come fight night on Saturday.

He comes to battle with a new team, having added veteran US trainer Robert Garcia at the expense of long-time amateur and professional coach Rob McCracken, and it is claimed a whole new outlook after investing in the services of a sports psychologist.

Here it’s worth making the point that none of the all-time greats in the heavyweight division — Ali, Frazier, Norton, Holmes, Lewis, Tyson, et al —  ever sought the sanctuary of a psychologist’s couch after a defeat.

Instead, they went back to the gym and drawing board where, trusting in their ability, they trained and sparred harder before returning to the scene of the crime to put things right.

Conventional wisdom has it that AJ’s gameplan will need to prioritise aggression in the rematch, using his size advantage to try and bully the smaller man, roughing him up on the inside and making things ugly.

There are two problems with this. The first is his fragile confidence and ability to take the kind of risks required to make this approach effective.

As others have pointed out, since getting stopped by Andy Ruiz Jnr in 2019, the former Olympian has fought like a man scared to let his hands go.

Doing so now against a fighter who dominated him the last time they fought will involve crossing an almighty psychological and spiritual Rubicon.

The other problem with this approach is Usyk’s accuracy and ring intelligence, which dictates the strong likelihood of AJ walking onto shots as he comes forward.

Usyk has tremendous feet and his timing is near perfect, which taken together should make him more than comfortable dealing with an opponent coming at him.

On another level, Usyk comes to the rematch fighting for a cause far greater than his own. The war raging at home has given him renewed purpose, he claims.

That he has arranged for the fight to be be broadcast live in Ukraine for free is an indication of this purpose and how seriously he considers himself to be fighting to inspire his people in a time of war.

That he will do so in a country that has been inflicting death and destruction on the people of Yemen since 2015 has clearly been lost in the scramble for the riches he is set to receive.

With this in mind, alongside the Ukrainian flag, there is a strong case for Usyk having “hypocrite” embroidered on his shorts on fight night.

Overall, the stench of blood hangs over this event. Sportswashing is the stand-up term used by critics. A more accurate word is greed.

The metaphorical screams of the countless victims of this barbarous medieval monument to cruelty and oppression will certainly not be drowned out by the live audience, given the striking lack of atmosphere the last time AJ fought in Saudi Arabia against Ruiz in a rematch he won.

More pertinently, those currently languishing in Saudi dungeons awaiting a fate of decapitation by sword will not be persuaded by the arguments deployed by AJ, Hearn, or any of the loyal courtiers who make up what passes for the sport’s media, to justify opting to stage the rematch here.

That they remain impervious to the torture, beheadings, oppression, and absolutism that underpins this Saudi kleptocracy merely confirms the extent to which money has corrupted and now dominates the sport.

Amnesty International’s 2021/22 report into human rights in Saudi Arabia should be required reading.

Consider this from the overview alone: “The crackdown continued on the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

“The Specialised Criminal Court handed down heavy prison terms to individuals for their human rights work and expression of dissenting views.

“Women human rights defenders were subjected to judicially imposed travel bans following conditional release from prison.

“Courts resorted extensively to the death penalty and people were executed for a wide range of crimes.”

A recent victim of what passes for justice in Saudi Arabia is Salma al-Shehab. A student at Leeds University, Salma returned home to the kingdom on holiday, where she was arrested in January 2021 and subsequently tried at the country’s special terrorist court.

Her crime? Using her Twitter account to promote the struggle of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia. Her sentence? Thirty-four years in prison.

Whoever wins in Jeddah on Saturday night, common decency and boxing loses.