It took place on December 7th 2019, the sellout match between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr has been reported to be the biggest sports event that took place in the Middle East. With Saudi Arabia hosting the event as part of Diriyah Season, Ruiz went up against Joshua to win back the heavyweight world title.
The newly built stadium, which was constructed in under 2 months, is set to accommodate 15,000 attendees. Sportsman, Andy Ruiz Jr said in a statement to the Daily Mail, "Its amazing man, its crazy how they built everything in a month and a half. It's amazing to be fighting over here, it's going to be really historic and I'm planning to make history over here.”
I dethroned the king June 1st and made history becoming the first Mexican/American Heavyweight Champion of the world. I’m looking forward to ending his career in the desert. Mostrare la grandeza del boxeo mexicano en Arabia Saudita.pic.twitter.com/4asTzG4N7C
— AndyRuizjr (@Andy_destroyer1) 24 août 2019
Images of the new stadium were released last week, and according to Arab News, the building was erected from around 300 tons of steel and covers ground of 10,000 square meters.
The highly anticipated fight had visitors from all over the world to fly in as British fighter, Anthony Joshua, also told press, "I'm thrilled so many of my fans are going to be there, particularly from the UK. It'll definitely be a night people will tell their grandchildren they were at, one of those iconic evenings of boxing. Everyone from Saudi has been brilliant to work with." Anthony Joshua beat Andy Ruiz Jr. at the match.
