- Updates from the rematch in Jeddah – 10.54pm BST start
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Here’s a look at how Usyk and Joshua match up ahead of tonight’s main event. Usyk came in at a lighter-than-expected 221½lbs at Friday’s weigh-in, while Joshua tipped the scales at 244½lbs, four and a half pounds heavier than he was last year.
Filip Hrgovic has just won a 12-round unanimous decision over Zhilei Zhang by scores of 114-113 and 115-112 (twice) in the last undercard bout. That means the final countdown for the main event is on. Joshua and Usyk are expected to make their ringwalks in the next 15 minutes or so.
From the moment Joshua exercised his immediate rematch clause in the aftermath, it was clear that a sweeping change was necessary. That meant ending his decade-long partnership with Robert McCracken, the only trainer he’d ever known as a professional, who also guided Joshua to a star-making Olympic gold medal as the head coach of Team GB’s boxing team at the 2012 London Games.
Joshua toured the United States at the end of last year in search of a replacement with Virgil Hunter, Eddy Reynoso and Ronnie Shields emerging as leading candidates. But he ultimately opted for Garcia, whose sterling reputation has only grown in the decade since he gained mainstream recognition upon being voted trainer of the year by America’s boxing writers in 2012.
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