Champion Oleksandr Usyk fools everyone with weight for Anthony Joshua rematch
Anthony Joshua has been completely fooled by Oleksandr Usyk, who weighed in much lighter than anyone anticipated ahead of Saturday's rematch.
The rematch between Joshua and Usyk takes place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, as the British boxer looks to reclaim his belts after losing via unanimous decision during the first bout. Usyk dominated the first fight despite weighing in much lighter than Joshua.
However, despite looking much larger this time around, Usyk has weighed in at only 100.5kgs, which is only 1.3kg more than last time. Joshua's camp were expecting the Ukrainian to be closer to the 110kg mark, but the weight difference may completely throw them off.
READ MORE: Oleksandr Usyk tipped to 'chop Anthony Joshua down' after showing off insane punch power
Both fighters weighed in slightly heavier than last time, with Joshua weighing in at 110.9kg while Usyk was more than 10kg lighter than his opponent. But many thought that the pair would be closer in weight this time around.
Even Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn said to talkSPORT: "I think he’ll (Usyk) come in closer to 110kg. I think he came in about 100kg last time, so we’re talking about 10kg more… I think he looks a little bit fleshy in the pictures I saw yesterday, not fleshy like me, but a bigger heavyweight."
But everyone has been completely thrown off by the weight difference, and Joshua's camp may have to alter their game plan at the last minute. And it seems as though this has been a clear tactic by Usyk, who appeared very smug after his weigh-in.
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Asked about his weight, Usyk said: "You see, your expectations are not always met." And retired boxer Amir Khan may not have helped with the illusion. Khan was pictured inside Usyk's training camp and revealed that the Ukrainian had told him he had put on 15kg.
"He looks a lot bigger," Khan told Seconds Out after visiting his training sessions. "I mean he was telling me that he's put on an extra 15 kilos since he last fought AJ, so, we're going to see how much strength he's going to be having.
"He looks like a full-on natural heavyweight. He is big and looks very strong. He nowhere near looked like a cruiserweight he looked like a nice full blown-up heavyweight, he was strong at the weight, when he was hitting the pads and stuff and you can see the definition on his body. He’s very thick and you can see it’s solid muscle that he’s got."
The same remains for Joshua, as it's likely that he'll need a knockout to claim victory over Usyk. But 10kg is a lot of weight, and all of their preparation may be in jeopardy due to their lapse of judgement. Only time will tell.
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