Amir Khan reveals Oleksandr Usyk’s massive weight gain for Anthony Joshua rematch

Usyk was considerably smaller than Joshua the first time they fought last September, as the Ukrainian challenger weighed in at 100 kilos, while the British heavyweight weighed in at 109 kilos.

It was Usyk’s third fight as a heavyweight, having fought at cruiserweight for the majority of his career, although his smaller stature ultimately didn’t prevent him from winning, as he outboxed Joshua and claimed a unanimous decision victory.

Khan visited Usyk’s training camp in Dubai and revealed on SecondsOut that Usyk told him he has packed on another 15 kilos, most of which appears to be muscle.

Amir Khan on Oleksandr Usyk.
“He looks in great shape, by the way. He looked very strong. He looks a lot bigger. I mean he was telling me that he’s put on an extra 15 kilos since he last fought AJ, so, we’re going to see how much strength he’s going to be having,” Khan said.

“He looks like a full-on natural heavyweight. He is big and looks very strong. He nowhere near looked like a cruiserweight, he looked like a nice full blown-up heavyweight.

“He was strong at the weight, when he was hitting the pads and stuff and you can see the definition on his body. He’s very thick and you can see it’s solid muscle that he’s got.”

Expect fireworks on August 20th.
Joshua was criticised for being too tentative in his first fight with Usyk, as he didn’t make use of his greater size against his faster and more technical opponent.

Many are expecting Joshua to be more aggressive this time around, and Usyk appears to have prepared for that by piling on muscle in order to deal with the British heavyweight’s power.

A knock out didn’t look likely at any stage in the first fight, although the chances of the rematch also going the distance appear to have been lessened.