Anthony Joshua posted a video clip of himself weighing in at 243.8 lbs today on Instagram, showing that he’s already within the 245-lb catchweight limit for his fight against Jake Paul on December 19th.
Already Inside the Catchweight Limit
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) made a short remark about how he’s accustomed to “dealing with big weights.”
Flashback to the Usyk Loss at 244
The comment by the 36-year-old Joshua doesn’t erase the fact that the last time he fought below 245 lbs in August 2022, he lost to Oleksandr Usyk by a 12-round split decision. He looked weak, lethargic, and robotic in that fight now.
Now, three years later, coming off a brutal knockout loss to Daniel Dubois and a 15-month layoff, AJ is going up against a younger, quicker, more agile upset-minded Jake Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) in an eight-rounder on Netflix at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
High Stakes for a Fury Super-Fight
Joshua has his and his promoter Eddie Hearn’s hopes for a Tyson Fury fight at stake for this fight with Jake. If he loses to the 28-year-old former YouTuber, there’s no way that a fight with Fury could happen without fans looking down on it with scorn and pity, viewing it as two rich old-timers, meeting in an empty money-grab fight.
“They must have forgot. I’m used to dealing with big weights & scales. 243.8 lbs,” said Anthony Joshua on Instagram today, showing that he’s already on weight for his catchweight fight against Jake Paul on December 19th.
Roy Jones: “Jake Could Take a Nap”
“Jake is going to fight a real fighter, and if the real fighter fights like a fighter, Jake is going to take a nap,” said Roy Jones Jr. to Fighthype. “AJ showed you against Ngannou. He’s not one of those guys that you can come off the street and say, ‘I’m going to go fight AJ.’ Nah.
“AJ is an Olympian. AJ is a former world champion. AJ is a two-time world champion. AJ isn’t someone to play with. So when you go in with AJ, have your mind right because if you can’t take it, he’s going to find out,” said Jones Jr.