By Scott Gilfoid: Promoter Eddie Hearn says IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) is weighing 241 pounds right now ahead of his fight next month against WBO champion Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) on March 31 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
If Hearn isn’t bending the truth about Joshua’s weight being 241, then it means he’s lost roughly 13 pounds from the 254 lbs. that he weighed in for his last bout against Carlos Takam last October.
What we don’t know about the 241 lbs. that Joshua is supposedly weighing right now is whether this was his weight AFTER a workout or if it’s what he’s weighing all the time. If Joshua weighed in after the workout, then of course he’s lighter. But he seriously needs to lose a lot of weight because he’s been gassing out in his last 2 fights, and he’s starting to show signs of being a muscle-bound fighter.
What makes it difficult to believe what Hearn says about Joshua’s weight is he was saying that he was going to come into his last fight against Takam weighing lighter than usual. That didn’t happen. Joshua came into the fight at a career high of 254 lbs. and he looked like he was ready to compete in the Mr. Universe bodybuilding competition. Joshua appeared to have been hitting the iron hard in working on bodybuilding rather than on his boxing training.
Stopped by the gym in Sheffield..the champ @anthonyfjoshua at a lean 17'6 in his kit pre workout 💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/kK01XzDVmS
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) February 15, 2018
This clip shows Joshua weighing in with all of his gear on at 17.6 stone. Hearn later said Joshua weighed in without the gear and his weight was at 241. But who knows? It might have been a day where Joshua didn’t eat or something.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that what Hearn is saying about Joshua weighing 241 lbs. is true. I don’t know if that’s going to be light enough for Joshua to defeat Parker. Joshua weighed in a 241 for his fight against journeyman Dorian Darch in February 2014, and he looked badly winded after throwing a flurry of shots in stopping him in the 2nd round. Joshua was gasping for breath at the time the referee stopped the fight. It could be possible that the only way Joshua doesn’t gas out in a fight is if he can get back down to 225 lbs. That was the weight that Joshua weighed in the 2012 London Olympics. Joshua didn’t gas out in any of his 4 fights in that competition. I thought Joshua lost 3 of his matches in that competition, but that’s beside the point. Joshua’s stamina was excellent at 225 in all of those fights. It was Joshua’s defense that was giving him problems. He getting hit a lot and not even trying to block the punches.
It’s a good sign that Joshua’s weight is supposedly at 241, but I think the weight isn’t low enough. For Joshua to fight hard for 12 rounds against Parker, he’s going to need to lose more muscle and focus on speed. Parker, 26, is younger, leaner and much better conditioned fighter. Parker has made it clear that he’s going to be using movement against Joshua to keep him from being able to tee off on him. Joshua’s ideal opponent is someone that foolishly backs up to the ropes and covers up. Joshua then unloads on them until the referee prematurely stops it. We’ve seen that repeatedly in Joshua’s fights. His opponents think they can fight off the ropes against Joshua, and that ends up not working when he throws a handful of punches that causes the referee to step in prematurely. Parker will need to watch out that he doesn’t let Joshua land more than 2 consecutive punches in the fight, because we might see another premature stoppage like in the Joshua-Takam fight.