Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk weighed in on the scales this Friday in the final act of protocol before Saturday’s fight in Saudi Arabia. The Englishman scored 244.5 pounds, while the Ukrainian was much lighter than thought at 221.5 pounds.
In recent days, different reports had emerged stating that the WBO, IBF and WBA heavyweight world champion, who is 19-0 in his career, would arrive at the rematch much heavier than usual.
However, Usyk ended up stopping the scales with a mark almost identical to last year, when in September 2021 he weighed in at 221.25 before defeating his British opponent by unanimous decision on jury scorecards.
“Expectations are not always met,” said the Ukrainian after surprising everyone with his weight. Joshua, meanwhile, downplayed the importance of the weigh-in, though it’s worth noting that he will arrive four pounds heavier than in his last duel with Usyk.
“For me personally, this face off means nothing. It’s all about when the bell rings tomorrow, face offs don’t win fights. All these things, the weight, none of that matters to me, I’m just waiting for the battle.” he explained.
“I am 100 percent ready for 12 rounds and anything less than that is a bonus”, completed Joshua, who will try to recover his championship belts again, as he already did when he lost a couple of years ago with the Mexican Andy Ruiz. .