Oleksandr Usyk proved a lot of pundits wrong by weighing almost exactly the same for his rematch with Anthony Joshua as he did before their first fight.
The pair are set to meet again, live on talkSPORT on Saturday night, with many expecting the Ukrainian champions to be significantly heavier ahead of their first title defence.
Mark Robinson/Matchroom
AJ stepped on the scales first as a challenger
Mark Robinson/Matchroom
Usyk followed as champion
For the first encounter, Usyk reached the heaviest weight of his career of 221.25 pounds (15th 11 pounds 4 ounces).
This time he was 221.5 lbs (15th 11 lbs 8 oz)only a quarter pound heavier.
AJ came heavier for the rematch, but not by much either.
For the first fight, he weighed 240 pounds (17th 2 pounds).
Whereas before the rematch he entered at 244.5 lbs (17th 6 lbs 8 oz)so 4.5 pounds more.
Mark Robinson/Matchroom
The pair shared a long and intense two-minute final showdown
Weigh-ins for Anthony Joshua’s world title
1) vs. Martin – 244 pounds
2) vs. Breazeale – 243 pounds
3) against Molina – 249 pounds
4) against Klitschko – 250 pounds
5) against Takam – 254 pounds
6) against Parker – 242 pounds
7) vs. Povetkin – 246.3 lbs.
8) vs. Ruiz I – 247.8 pounds
9) against Ruiz II – 237 pounds
10) vs. Pulev – 240.8 lbs.
11) against Usyk I – 240 pounds
12) vs. Usyk II – 244.5lbs
Oleksandr Usyk heavyweight weigh-ins
1) vs. Witherspoon – 215 pounds
2) against Chisora – 217.25 pounds
3) against Joshua I – 221.25 pounds
4) vs. Joshua II – 221.5 pounds
The difference between the two is 23 pounds (1st 9 pounds).
There’s been a lot of talk over the past few weeks about Usyk’s ‘bulking’, with many pundits mistakenly predicting he’ll be a bit bigger this time around.
Asked if his weight proves people wrong, the champ said: “See, your expectations aren’t always met.”
Usyk weighed in at 217.25 pounds in his fight with Derek Chisora before facing AJ for the first time.
His only heavyweight contest before that saw him weigh in at 215 pounds against Chazz Witherspoon.
Mark Robinson/Matchroom
There is a lot of respect between them
Joshua is ready to try to regain his titles
Prior to that, he competed under the 200-pound cruising weight limit.
As for AJ, long gone are the days when he weighed around 250 pounds.
After his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, Joshua cut back considerably to win the rematch.
Since then, it has remained constant around the 240-pound mark.
Usyk vs. Joshua 2 on talkSPORT
talkSPORT will be in Jeddah for the Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua rematch on Saturday August 20.
Join us – FREE – for exclusive radio coverage of the huge heavyweight fight that puts the WBA, WBO and IBF titles on the line.
Our expert team will consist of presenters Adam Catterall, Gareth A Davies and Ade Oladipo, commentator Andy Clarke, former bantamweight champion Spencer Oliver and current heavyweight star Derek Chisora..
We’ll be ringside in Saudi Arabia from 8pm – don’t miss it!
