Oleksandr Usyk’s correct weight for Friday’s weigh-in is 223 1/2 lbs, not the 233.5 lbs that the announcer incorrectly revealed for his fight against Tyson Fury on Saturday night in Riyadh.
The 233-lb weight gain announced initially surprised fans, as IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Usyk had gained 12 lbs from his fight against Daniel Dubois last August in Poland. That’s a big jump up in weight for a fighter who looked as toned as Usyk did today.
Implications for the Fight: A Lighter, Faster Usyk?
The lighter weight for Usyk, at 223 lbs, which is a 10 lb weight discrepancy, could potentially make things more difficult for WBC heavyweight champion Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs), who weighed in at 262 lbs and still looked soft around the middle.
Being lighter will make Usyk quicker on his feet, able to get out of Fury’s way with punches, and avoid being wrapped up in constant clinches.
Excessive holding has become a big part of Fury’s game; it’s where he does his best work, leaning his weight on his opponent and clubbing them with his free hand.
Usyk’s lighter weight will make it more difficult for Fury to maul him, and he can hit him with his pinpoint sniper shots. Fury has been hurt many times in the last four years in fights, and we don’t know whether his punch resistance is what it once was at 35.
Mental Warfare at Weigh-In
“262 lbs on the scales. He’s never going to look like an Adonis or an AJ, but this is as good as it gets. This is a good Fury for me,” said Ade Oladipo of DAZN Boxing talking about Tyson Fury weighing in at 262 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in.
“Unquestionably, coming in this light, the lightest he’s been since 2019, he looks good,” said Chris Mannix about Fury. “He’s never going to be that chiseled type of physique, but dropping down to that low 260s is going to make him a fresher fighter going into this fight.
“He did exactly what he needed to do in terms of preparation. I actually think that extra three months probably helped Tyson Fury. He had to take a bit of a break after that close win over Francis Ngannou.
“Getting those extra three months of work, even though it wasn’t his preference, I think that probably helped his physique and conditioning coming into this fight. Usyk is the definition of unflappable.
“You cannot get under Usyk’s skin. In that moment, Tyson Fury got under Oleksandr Usyk’s skin,” said Mannix about Fury shoving Usyk today. “We’ll see if it means anything come tomorrow night, but that was certainly a mental warfare tactic.”
