Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk tipped the scales today, one day out from their seismic heavyweight title rematch in Saudi Arabia. Eleven months on from their first clash, Joshua and Usyk will meet again as the Briton looks to win back the belts that he lost to the unbeaten Ukrainian in London. Jeddah will be the site of their highly-anticipated rematch, which marks a crossroads moment in the career of Joshua.
After the British star, 32, lost his titles in June 2019 with a shocking stoppage defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr, “AJ” regained the gold just six months later with a decision victory over the Mexican-American. That rematch also took place in Saudi Arabia – in Riyadh – and saw Joshua rise to the occasion to avoid back-to-back defeats, but the pressure to do so again is on, ahead of Saturday’s ‘Rage On The Red Sea’. No man has ever beaten Usyk during the 35-year-old’s professional career, and he handily outpointed Joshua last September. When asked whether retirement would be on the cards for Joshua in the case of another loss, the Briton said this week: “It’s up to me at the end of the day, it’s not up to anyone else what I do with my career. It’s more of a personal decision.”
The final event before Saturday’s fight was today’s weigh-ins, with former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk coming in half-a-pound heavier than the 220lbs that he weighed last September – despite beliefs that he had bulked up this time around. In comparison, AJ today hit the scales at 244lbs – four pounds heavier than in his loss to Usyk last year. Re-live updates from the weigh-ins here:
