Oleksandr Usyk has admitted he will enter his rematch with Anthony Joshua heavier than for their first meeting but doesn't know the exact weight he will be in the ring.
Usyk, 35, will make the first defence of his heavyweight titles this Saturday when he rematches Joshua in Saudi Arabia. The Ukrainian won the belts against Joshua in just his third heavyweight fight last September. Usyk, a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, weighed 221lb for his first meeting with Joshua and is predicting he will be even heavier for the rematch.
"I will not tell you much about my strategy. I am a bit heavier than I was last time," Usyk told Sky Sports. "I'm not sure the weight I'm going to be walking to the ring, we're going to see it on Friday [at the weigh-in]. I'm not a big forecaster. You'll see Saturday night, I'll just do my job, what I have to do." According to boxing legend Amir Khan, who recently visited Usyk during his training camp, the heavyweight champion has piled on 30lb for the rematch.
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Much has been made about Usyk's lack of size at heavyweight since he moved up from cruiserweight in 2019. Usyk has continued to weigh-in heavier since his first heavyweight fight and if Khan's estimation is true, the Ukrainian could step on the scale at around 250lb on Friday. Joshua, who weighed in at 240lb for his loss to Usyk last year, recently weighed in on Usyk's weight gain by telling iFL TV : "Listen that is a lot of weight. For me if I was to put that weight on, I would say it is because I feel I am not big enough at a certain weight.
"A second reason would be I feel I can punch harder if I can add this weight on and I feel that I would be able to manoeuvre the other guy around a bit better because last time I fought at heavyweight I didn't feel strong enough. But it may not be intentional. You just spend time in the boxing gym and you don't spend much time in the weight room, so they are probably right it is just naturally happening."
Despite Joshua's take about being able to punch harder by adding on more size, Usyk feels he was just moments away from stopping the Brit in the final round of their first meeting. Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn has also agreed with Joshua's assessment of Usyk's weight gain, insisting the Ukrainian looks "a bit fleshy" just days out from the rematch.
