Looking back, so much of it was already there on that night in Diriyah when a storm raged across the desert and Anthony Joshua made history – and £60 million (€69.7 million) – by retaining his world heavyweight title belts. Not just the good, the bad and the ugly of Saudi Arabia’s sporting ambitions, but the half-truths and accommodations of those willing to take the money and look the other way.
One moment from the fight in December 2019 lingers more than most: Joshua absorbing the cheers from the young crowd, many of whom were women in western clothes, before averting his gaze upwards towards the kingdom’s ruler, Mohamad bin Salman, and giving a fist pump to the man who had made it all possible …
- June 8, 2023
