Tyson Fury weighed in at 127 kg against 102 kg for Oleksandr Usyk, an advantage of 25 kilos for the Briton, Friday on the eve of their rematch in Riyadh, played this Saturday, December 21 from 11:30 p.m.
Fury, who weighs 9 kilos more than during their first fight in May, therefore displays the heaviest weight of his career.
Seven months after the first leg, Fury and Usyk meet again on Saturday in the Saudi capital for a rematch. On May 19, at the end of a fight that had lived up to all expectations, Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
The Ukrainian, declared the winner by split decision, unified the four belts in the heavyweight category.
Usyk has since relinquished his IBF title, which was later reclaimed by Briton Daniel Dubois. Saturday's “rematch”, the most anticipated boxing event of the end of the year, will therefore have the other three belts at stake.
Fury, former WBC champion, must beat Usyk on Saturday if he wants to forget the only defeat of his career.
“When a 127-kilo man punches you in the jaw…”
At the weigh-in, which took place at Riyadh's Boulevard World amusement park, the Briton uttered just one word – “war” – to the interviewer before walking off stage.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000“When a 280-pound man punches you in the jaw, compared to a 230-pound man, it's a bit different,” he told Sky Sports earlier.
On Thursday, tensions mounted during the press conference, which featured an intense 11-minute face-off. On Friday, they faced each other for just a few seconds before parting ways.
Usyk, 37, is undefeated (22-0, 14 KOs), while Fury, 6 feet 1 inch taller than the Ukrainian, has a record of 34 wins, one draw and one loss.
“Don't hit him too hard,” Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joked that his star should spare his British rival, so as not to jeopardize London's military aid to Ukraine.
“All Ukrainians are on your side,” Zelensky said Friday in a video posted on Telegram and addressed to the Ukrainian boxer.
“Of course, Britain is helping Ukraine in its fight against Russia,”, he noted, however.
“That's why when you beat Fury, don't hit him too hard, because we don't want them to ban Storm Shadow,” he continued, referring to the British name for a Franco-British cruise missile supplied by London to kyiv.
British media reported last month that Ukraine had fired Storm Shadow missiles at Russia for the first time after London gave it the green light for such strikes.
The British government has refused to confirm or deny this information.
180 million euros
Arabia Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, invests heavily in sports to boost its image, earning it regular accusations of “sports-washing”, i.e. using sports to divert attention from its human rights record.
Despite these criticisms, the country is becoming the undisputed capital of world boxing, with monumental purses and Hollywood-worthy productions. For Saturday's fight, the British media reported a purse of 150 million pounds (180 million euros), of which Usyk should take the lion's share, contrary to what is had happened in May, when Fury had received 70% of the sum, according to the media.