Anthony Joshua insists he is ready for 12 rounds against Oleksandr Usyk after maintaining his substantial weight advantage for Saturday’s rematch in Jeddah.
A theme of the build-up had been the apparently extra bulk being carried by a beefed-up Usyk but the additional muscle turned out to be an illusion as he scaled a weight almost identical to their first fight.
The Ukrainian registered 15st 11lbs 9oz, only nine ounces heavier than when he seized the WBA, IBF and WBO belts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium nearly a year ago.
Joshua recorded 17st 6lbs 8oz, 4.8lbs heavier than in September, to give him almost two stones on his rival.
“I’m 100 per cent ready for 12 rounds and anything shorter than that is a bonus,” said Joshua at the weigh in at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
The pair engaged in a lengthy face-off before clasping hands in mutual respect and turning away with Usyk adding a thumbs up for good measure.
When asked what should be read into their extended eyeballing, Joshua said: “Not much, it was just a face-off.
“I always say that for me personally face-offs don’t mean any anything. It’s about the bell ringing. Face-offs don’t win fights.
“All this stuff doesn’t matter…it’s just about the fight. Weights, face-offs – none of it matters to me. I’m just looking forward to the fight.”
Usyk would say only “you see, your expectations are not met every time” in relation to the speculation over his bulked up frame and revealed that when he looked into Joshua’s eyes, he saw “the reflection of myself”.
Oleksandr Usyk v Anthony Joshua 2: Date, start time, TV channel and cost
The blockbuster rematch is taking place on Saturday, August 20 at at King Abdullah Sports City, also nicknamed The Shining Jewel, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The undercard is expected to begin from around 1800 BST, with the main event to start between 2230 BST and 2300 BST.
The fight will be shown on Sky Sports Box Office (Sky channel 491) and Sky Sports Box Office HD (Sky channel 492), with their broadcast starting from 1800 BST and will cost £26.95 for UK customers and €31.95 for Republic of Ireland customers.
You can also listen to the fight on talkSPORT.
Oleksandr Usyk v Anthony Joshua 2: Running order and undercard
- Oleksandr Usyk v Anthony Joshua (Approx 2230 BST)
WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles - Callum Smith v Mathieu Bauderlique
Final eliminator for WBC light heavyweight title - Filip Hrgovic v Zhilei Zhang
Final eliminator for IBF heavyweight title - Badou Jack v Richard Rivera
- Ramla Ali v Crystal Garcia Nova
- Andrew Tabiti v Tyrone Spong
- Daniel Lapin v Jozef Jurko
- Ziyad Almaayouf v Jose Alatorre
- MoneyKicks v Paevie (from around 1800 BST)
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