The heavyweight champion came in heavier than ever for Saturday’s Egypt showdown, but the added size raised questions at the weigh-in

Oleksandr Usyk stepped onto the scales Friday at the heaviest weight of his professional career ahead of Saturday’s heavyweight title fight against Rico Verhoeven in Egypt. The unbeaten champion weighed 233.3 pounds, but the added bulk appeared noticeably softer than the leaner build he carried into last year’s Daniel Dubois rematch.

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Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) came in more than six pounds above the 227¼ he weighed for his fifth-round knockout win over Dubois at Wembley Stadium.

That extra size was immediately noticeable during the weigh-in. Usyk didn’t appear to have added the kind of lean muscle mass that helped him overpower Dubois in their rematch. Instead, the added bulk looked softer around the midsection and upper body, making people wonder about whether the extra weight was intentionally packed on to deal with Verhoeven’s size advantage.

Rico still came in significantly bigger at 258.7 pounds, leaving the longtime GLORY kickboxing heavyweight champion with a 25-pound edge over Usyk heading into Saturday night. Verhoeven (1-0, 1 KO), who is trained by Peter Fury, weighed about seven pounds lighter than he did for his last kickboxing appearance against Artem Vakhitov.

Usyk has often relied on movement, conditioning, and pace at heavyweight rather than trying to match naturally bigger fighters pound-for-pound. Against Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Dubois, his mobility and stamina became major weapons late in fights. Carrying additional non-functional weight at age 39 could become a factor if Saturday’s fight turns physical or drags into the second half.

Elsewhere on the card, Hamzah Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) weighed 167.9 pounds for his vacant WBO super middleweight title fight against Alem Begic (29-0-1, 23 KOs), who came in at 166.9.

Jack Catterall (32-2, 14 KOs) weighed 146.8 pounds for his WBA “regular” welterweight title fight against unbeaten Shakhram Giyasov (17-0, 10 KOs), who scaled 145.7 after a 13-month layoff.

In the heavyweight IBF eliminator, Frank Sanchez (25-1, 18 KOs) came in at 240.4 pounds for his fight with Richard Torrez Jr. (14-0, 12 KOs), who weighed 229.5.

Mizuki Hiruta (10-0, 2 KOs) also successfully made weight for her Ring and WBO junior bantamweight title defense against Mai Soliman.