Oleksandr Usyk didn't gain weight, Anthony Joshua a tad heavier
So much for Oleksandr Usyk being heavier and Anthony Joshua being lighter.
Persistent pre-fight chatter suggested that the champion Usyk had bulked up and Joshua had trimmed down ahead of their rematch Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (DAZN).
That didn’t happen. Usyk on Friday weighed in at 221½, only a quarter pound heavier than he weighed when he outpointed Joshua to take three titles last September.
Joshua came in at 244½, 4½ pounds heavier than he weighed for the first fight.
“You see? Your expectations not every time are met,” Usyk said through a translator.
The fighters engaged in an unusually long stare down after they stepped off the scales, about 1 minute, 45 seconds. However, the official weigh-in was uneventful otherwise.
Joshua downplayed both the weights and the stare down.
“All this stuff, the weight, the faceoff, don’t matter to me,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to the fight. … I’m just ready for 12 rounds, 100 percent ready for 12 rounds.
“Anything short of that is a bonus.”
Usky (19-0, 13 KOs) defeated Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) by a wide decision to win the IBF, WBA and WBO titles on Sept. 25 in London.