Anthony Joshua insists he’s prepared for 12 rounds towards Oleksandr Usyk after sustaining his substantial weight benefit for Saturday’s rematch in Jeddah.
A theme of the build-up had been the apparently additional bulk being carried by a beefed-up Usyk however the extra muscle turned out to be an phantasm as he scaled a weight nearly an identical to their first battle.
The Ukrainian registered 15st 11lbs 9oz, solely 9 ounces heavier than when he seized the WBA, IBF and WBO belts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium practically a 12 months in the past.
Joshua recorded 17st 6lbs 8oz, 4.8lbs heavier than in September, to provide him nearly two stones on his rival.
“I’m 100 per cent ready for 12 rounds and anything shorter than that is a bonus,” stated Joshua on the weigh in on the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
The pair engaged in a prolonged face-off earlier than clasping arms in mutual respect and turning away with Usyk including a thumbs up for good measure.
When requested what needs to be learn into their prolonged eyeballing, Joshua stated: “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 solely “you see, your expectations are not met every time” in relation to the hypothesis over his bulked up body and revealed that when he seemed into Joshua’s eyes, he noticed “the reflection of myself”.
Source: www.unbiased.co.uk