Anthony Joshua’s weigh-in ahead of Saturday’s fight with Kubrat Pulev descended into an angry confrontation on Friday during a furious exchange of words at the weigh-in for their world heavyweight title fight.
Joshua defends his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO championships against the Bulgarian in front of 1,000 fans at Wembley Arena in London on Saturday evening, and thus far the pair have remained cordial for the most part.
But that changed as they took to the scales on Friday, as the mood quickly turned when Joshua prepared to step on the scales at the Hilton Hotel.
Pulev was heard to say ‘tomorrow, tomorrow’ repeatedly to Joshua, who then pulled his mask down to call the 39-year-old over.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
FACE OFF 👀 #JoshuaPulev
TOMORROW NIGHT! 👑👑👑👑 pic.twitter.com/MzOhnkicmY
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) December 11, 2020
After some heated words they were pulled apart before they briefly attempted to diffuse the situation with a fist pump. After Pulev struck Joshua’s fist aggressively, they began trading insults again.
“I would have clapped him on his jaw, just then,” Joshua told Sky Sports. “But I have to wait till tomorrow.
When asked what he had said to Pulev, Joshua laughed: “I don’t really wanna repeat that on live TV.
“I just told him: ‘Many years I’ve been watching boxing and I’ve seen so many fighters talk a load of rubbish, then they get smacked up.’
