Joshua heavier than Pulev in heated weigh-in

Anthony Joshua tipped the scales at 240.8 pounds on Friday ahead of Saturday’s world heavyweight titles defence against Kubrat Pulev in London, England.

Joshua, from Watford, England, was five pounds lighter than he was for his last United Kingdom performance in September 2018 but left the weigh-in with Pulev shouting at him from the stage: “Tomorrow I will show you.”

“He came talking a lot of rubbish,” Joshua said, who plans to train Friday night. “Many years I have been watching boxing and they talk a lot of rubbish and then they get smacked up.

“That doesn’t intimidate me. It was a good weight. We are big boys, we punch heavy and the first man to land will be the last man standing.”

Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs), 31, won back the belts from Andy Ruiz on points a year ago and his clash with Pulev was delayed from taking place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bulgarian Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs), 39, weighed in at 239.7lbs, which was lighter than when he fought Wladimir Klitschko in his previous world title attempt for the same belts six years ago. Pulev weighed 247lbs ahead of facing Klitschko, who stopped him in five rounds, and looks trim ahead of facing Joshua.

Joshua weighed 237lbs for the Ruiz rematch a year ago and has told ESPN he has concentrated on improving his fitness ahead of facing Pulev.

Joshua will be making a second defence of the titles in his second reign as champion, in front of a restricted crowd of 1,000 against Pulev, with talk of him possibly facing rival world champion Tyson Fury in 2021.

Other weights for the major fights on the bill at The SSE Arena, Wembley, included: Martin Bakokle (251 lbs) vs Sergey Kuzmin (258 lbs), heavyweight; Hughie Fury (247 lbs) vs Mariusz Wach (274 lbs), heavyweight; Lawrence Okolie (198 lbs) vs Nikodem Jezewski (199 lbs), cruiserweight.