Oleksandr Usyk dismissed suggestions he weighed in up to two stone lighter than expected for his rematch with Anthony Joshua.
Usyk and Joshua will square off in the ring for the second time tomorrow night at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia, with the Ukrainian looking for another victory over his rival. Much was made of the size difference between the pair in the opening meeting, but Usyk made light work of Joshua by dominating the fight.
However many people around Usyk claimed the Ukrainian had put on weight while fans believed the champion looked much bigger in training. Despite many expecting Usyk to come in significantly heavier, Usyk tipped the scales at the same 221lb weight as for the first fight which saw him crowned champion.
Asked about his weight, Usyk said: "You see, your expectations are not always met." Many close to Usyk including his promoter Alex Krassyuk suggested the undefeated star had put on weight, but Usyk himself remained coy about the added weight when questioned during Tuesday's open workout suggesting "you will have to wait and see".
Retired star Amir Khan was pictured inside Usyk's camp recently at his Dubai training base ahead of his meeting in Saudi Arabia, in which he revealed Usyk 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.”
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Usyk had stepped up as an undisputed cruiserweight champion with many uncertain if he would be able to impose himself physically against larger fighters. He struggled in physical departments in his first two outings against Chaz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora but looked a different man against Joshua despite his weight and height disadvantages.
However many believed he would look to up his size having admitted he struggled with the punch power of Joshua despite the outcome of the fight. “It was a really difficult fight for me,” Usyk said. “Everybody keeps saying it was an easy walk, but, no, it wasn’t. It was a hard fight for him and for me. After the fight I came back to the hotel and I took some food and I fall asleep sitting [up].”
