Anthony Joshua was back to a more familiar weight as he sidestepped questions about Tyson Fury ahead of his return to the ring against Kristian Prenga.
Joshua tipped the scales at 251lbs – more than 11lbs lighter than Albanian fighter Prenga (261.4lbs) – in Saudi Arabia after being weight-restricted in his last fight against Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in December.
The former two-weight champion weighed in at 252.5lbs for his previous fight against Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
Joshua must win in Jeddah on Saturday night to secure a potential heavyweight blockbuster against Fury, who secured his side of the bargain by stopping veteran Polish fighter Mariusz Wach in Pattaya, Thailand, on Friday.
The 36-year-old managed to dodge questions about Fury after the weigh-in by grabbing the DAZN microphone and orchestrating back and forth cheers between the British and Albanian fans.
“We’re feeling good,” said Joshua, who is back in action for the first time since he was involved in a car crash in Nigeria which killed close friends Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele and Sina Ghami just days after the Paul fight.
“It’s going down tomorrow night in Jeddah. Let’s go people. Big up everyone for coming out. Tomorrow will be good.”
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said: “The work’s done. It’s not going to be easy because this isn’t a guy (Prenga) with a bundle of defeats and coming here for a payday.
“He’s got the whole country behind him by the sound of things as well.
“It’s going to be a great atmosphere, a big fight and a big opportunity.
“We know what comes the other side, but we’re not looking at that because we’ve got to deal with this guy.”
