‘Your expectations are not always met’ – Usyk laughs off Amir Khan’s claims he had put on 15lbs for Joshua rematch

OLEKSANDR USYK has shrugged off Amir Khan’s suggestion that he was planning to come in heavier for his rematch with Anthony Joshua.

The 35-year-old Ukrainian weighed in at 221 pounds on Friday – the same as he did for their first bout in London last September.

Usyk schooled Joshua to win a clear decision victory 11 months ago and will be hoping to do the same in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.

But some were surprised by him not having put on any more weight – with AJ coming in four pounds heavier to increase the gap between them to 23lbs.

There were rumours throughout fight week about Usyk having bulked up for his fourth bout at heavyweight.

And former world champion Khan claimed Usyk had said he was 15 kilograms heavier when the pair met in Dubai earlier this month.

But he then came in at the same weight, with Usyk responding to Khan’s comments by simply saying: “You see, your expectations are not always met.”

Khan was adamant the unified heavyweight champion was going to come in heavier for the rematch.

Speaking to SecondsOut, he said: “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.

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“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.”

Usyk heads into the fight with AJ as the favourite following his superb display at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year.

It is the first time in Joshua’s professional career that he is going into a bout as the underdog.

Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk