Anthony Joshua Shows Off His Current Physique Ahead of Jake Paul Fight

With less than a month to go until his showdown with YouTube star-turned-boxer Jake Paul, former two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has unveiled his current physique. The fight is set for eight rounds of three minutes’ duration in front of an expected sell-out at Kaseya Center in Miami on the 19th of December.

‘AJ’ is aiming to rediscover his taste for victory following a knockout defeat to fellow Brit Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September last year. The defeat denied Joshua another opportunity to reclaim his title belts from unified heavyweight titleholder Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian fighter went on to defeat Dubois in their subsequent meeting at Wembley Stadium, ending the fight in the fifth round.

The first face-to-face meeting between Paul and Joshua since their bout was announced came at the kick-off press conference for the fight. It shone a revealing light on the size difference between the two fighters. ‘The Problem Children’ appeared visibly struck by the stature of the Londoner as they met on stage.

Anthony Joshua Subject to Strict Weight Limit For Jake Paul Fight

Paul is reportedly set to enter the ring at a lighter weight than his one previous heavyweight outing against Mike Tyson last November. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Jake revealed that he hoped to be “anywhere between 215lbs to 225lbs,” when the question was put to him about fight weights. The Paul camp have also stipulated that Anthony Joshua cannot exceed 245lbs when the fighters officially weigh in.

While he may not be done to the required fight night weight just yet, Joshua provided fans with a peak at his current physique – and he looks in seriously good shape.

The 36-year-old had been due to make a last-minute appearance on the Riyadh Season pay-per-view that took place in Saudi Arabia this past weekend. However, when the opportunity came to fight Paul for an eye-watering sum of money, Joshua answered the call.

Anthony Joshua’s Current Physique Ahead of Jake Paul Fight

In an Instagram post, Joshua flexed his muscles in his trademark white trunks in front of a camera, presumably while filming promotional material for the fight. He captioned the photo: “The more I hurt people, the more they’re gonna love me.”

The former world heavyweight champion unveiled a chiselled physique, with bulging arms, traps and six-pack abs.The photo prompted a stream of comments, with one user stating, “Mad shape bro” with another adding “They don’t know what’s coming!!”

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, revealed that his fighter will have to cut weight in order to make the contracted 245lbs weigh for the weight.

Commenting on the stipulation, Hearn said: “They said: ‘The only thing is that Jake will weigh about 220 pounds and we want AJ to come down in weight.’ He [Joshua] is a heavyweight and hasn’t cut weight before. They said: ‘Look we’re not being funny, and it’s not that we need an advantage, but we need you to have some disadvantage.”

Joshua, who will enter the fight as a massive favourite, still has a sizable weight cut to make before fight night. In a recent interview with talkSPORT, Hearn revealed that his fighter was currently walking around at 265lbs, meaning that he’ll need to cut 20lbs before stepping on the scales.