Oleksandr Usyk weight corrected ahead of Tyson Fury showdown
The two square up in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Oleksandr Usyk will be giving away almost three stones to Tyson Fury after it emerged that the wrong weight was read out at last night’s weigh in.
The Ukrainian WBA, IBF and WBO world champion was announced as having tipped the scales at 233lbs when the actual figure was 223lbs.
It means he will enter the ring for tonight’s undisputed world heavyweight fight in Riyadh at 15st 13lbs, considerably lighter than Fury’s 18st 10lbs.
Fury shoved the Olympic gold medallist at the final stare down before the unbeaten rivals meet to decide the greatest heavyweight of their generation.
The ‘Gypsy King’, the WBC champion, then unleashed a foul-mouthed tirade at Usyk and promised “fireworks”.
“I’m going to knock this little f***er spark out. I’m coming for his heart, that’s what I’m coming for,” Fury said.
“F*** his belts, I’m coming for his f***ing heart. F*** him and f*** all of his team too. F*** the lot of them. They can all get it if they want too, s***houses!”
Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard were amongst a star-studded audience at the Kingdom Arena, which was expected to host a crowd of around 20,000.
Ronaldo plays for Riyadh’s Al-Nassr while Gerrard manages Al-Ettifaq, also in the Saudi Pro League.
Anthony Joshua was present at ringside to watch the undercard knowing that the main event will shape his future given that he could meet the winner early next year.
Lending a sense of history to the occasion was the presence of heavyweight royalty Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Larry Holmes.
Usyk was first to arrive into the ring, dressed as a Cossack warrior, and it was several minutes before Fury began his entrance to songs by Barry White and Bonnie Tyler.
The ‘Gypsy King’ spent several minutes dancing on stage with a back drop of flames before the song changed to ‘Holding out for a Hero’ and with that he started a rapid advance to the ring.
