When Anthony Joshua compared racism to a virus that has gone pandemic at a Black Lives Matter march recently his words were undoubtedly heartfelt.

Not only was killing a person because of the colour their skin unforgiveable, he said, but also so was stripping them of their human rights, pressing them, mocking them, insulting them and placing glass ceilings above them.

‘We must unite as a human race,’ the British world heavyweight boxing champion told the crowd in his hometown, Watford. ‘Every life matters’.

I thought of those words when it was announced on Wednesday that Joshua and Tyson Fury have signed a financial agreement for two world title fights being touted as ‘the biggest showdown in British boxing history’.

Almost as big as the announcement of the fight itself was the speculation around where it will take place after Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, appeared to rule out the UK.

This would make Las Vegas and Saudi Arabia the most likely contenders.

Last year when asked about a potential fight with Joshua, the Gypsy King was insistent it be held at the same venue where he famously defeated Deontay Wilder to become WBC heavyweight champion.

‘Listen, that fight happens in Las Vegas alone,’ he said earlier this year. ‘It’d be MGM Grand Garden Arena live from Las Vegas, USA’.

But If, as is the case with boxing fights and promoters, it all comes down to money in a bidding war, then Saudi Arabia will surely win.

In December Joshua ignored opposition from human rights groups when he won back his title against Andy Ruiz Jr in Riyadh, pocketing a cool £60m in the process.

He defended his decision saying it was not down to him to be a ‘caped crusader’ on behalf of those being targeted by the Saudi authorities which last year executed a record 184 people.

Amnesty International attributed the rise to the ‘increased use of the death penalty as a political weapon against dissidents from the Shia Muslim minority’.

Thirty-seven were executed in one day, including three who were children at the time of their alleged offences.

One was Mujtaba al-Sweikat, 17, detained at Dammam airport as he was about to board a flight to begin his studies at Western Michigan University.

The teenager was one of many youths caught up in pro-democracy demonstrations which erupted in Saudi Arabia during the Arab Spring in 2011-12.

During his interrogation he was tortured by being hung by his hands, beaten on the soles of his feet and stubbed with cigarettes. He also had cold water poured over him in a freezing cell in winter.

It culminated in him signing a confession and court documents showed he admitted throwing Molotov cocktails and running a chat group on his Blackberry phone to help organise protests.

But his father said Mujtaba only turned up at two demonstrations, staying no more than five minutes at each.

If Anthony Joshua is willing is speak out against racism at a rally eleven days after George Floyd’s death, why does he not speak out about the beheading of Mujtaba al-Sweikat?

What about the way Mujtaba’s human rights were stripped away as he was beaten and left shivering in the freezing cold cell.

Surely if you take a stand against racism, as Joshua consistently does, then you are against discrimination of any form – whether it’s against blacks on the streets of America or, as in Saudi Arabia’s case, against Shias, gays, women’s rights activists and pro-democracy campaigners.

In the post-George Floyd world in which we live you cannot cherry pick which oppressed ethnic or minority group you are vocal about, and which you turn a blind eye to.

If Anthony Joshua says he would not have fought in South Africa during the apartheid era whatever money was on the table – as I’m sure he would if asked - then he should not fight in Saudi Arabia.

As he said during that speech in Watford, every life matters and we must unite as a human race.

To agree to fight Fury in Riyadh for an enormous pay cheque would only open him up to accusations of hypocrisy.

George Floyd and Mujtaba al-Sweikat were both victims of discrimination. One was black and killed by a racist police officer, the other was Arab and killed by a government that treats members of political opposition as potential terrorists, even as children.

In reaching the right decision, Anthony Joshua can demonstrate that the world really has change for the better, and showing solidarity not just with victims of racism, but of all types of discrimination.

Anthony Harwood is a former foreign editor of the Daily Mail