Anthony Joshua hit the heaviest weight of his career on Friday, coming in 21lbs heavier than Jermaine Franklin ahead of the pair’s fight this weekend.
Joshua is looking to bounce back from two straight losses to Oleksandr Usyk as he boxes Franklin at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night. And at Friday’s weigh-ins, “AJ” came in at 255.4lbs (18.2 stone) compared to the 234.1lbs (16.7 stone) of his American opponent.
Briton Joshua was 11lbs heavier than he was in his last fight, a decision defeat by Usyk in August. Meanwhile, Franklin was 23lbs lighter than he was in his most recent bout, a controversial points loss to Dillian Whyte in November.
“I’ve got my gameplan, I’ve got my mind right, and I’m just ready to go to war,” said Joshua, 33. “I know I’ve got the possibility of [a knockout win], 100 percent, but there’s a process to get there. I just follow that process.”
Franklin, 29, then said: “He’s probably bulked up a little bit, but we’re ready for whatever. We got a chin of steel, so I’m not worried too much about power; he’s still got to be able to touch me with it.”
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told Dazn shortly thereafter: “I’m the closest person to the head-to-heads, I’m seeing Jermaine Franklin looking at Anthony Joshua. I don’t care what anyone says, [Franklin] is thinking: ‘Look at the size of this guy.’ I mean he’s an absolute tank.”
Franklin was unbeaten until his majority-decision loss to Whyte, while Joshua’s back-to-back points losses to Usyk were the second and third defeats of his career.
Joshua previously suffered a shock TKO loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019, before outpointing the Mexican-American six months later.
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