WBA and IBF world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has weighed in heavier than ever before for his title fight with Carlos Takam in Cardiff on Saturday evening.
The 28-year-old, last in action against Wladimir Klitschko six months ago, tipped the scales at 18st 2lbs - a stone more than his opponent at 16st 11lbs.
Joshua was expected to shed the pounds on the back of his gruelling battle with Klitschko at Wembley Stadium, but he insists that it is not surprising to enter the fight at his heaviest and is adamant it will make little difference to the outcome.
"I was reading everywhere that I was going to come in a stone lighter," he told Sky Sports News. "I've done a lot more running. Maybe I'm starting to fill out and find my natural weight. Takam has a mindset of nothing to lose. That's a dangerous mindset to have, but I have to deal with these styles.
"I have to break him down, I'm hungry still, forever I will be. Against Klitschko, it was a really intense fight, it's just knowing my positioning in the ring and to be comfortable. The outcome remains the same on Saturday. I know what it's like to be a challenger. Believe it or not I still have the mindset of a challenger. I don't walk around with an ego just because I have a few belts on my shoulder.
"I know he has that mindset to find a way to win. If you keep on knocking on the door you find a way through. I just have to boot him out because he isn't coming through this door. I'm still developing. I think that's why people jump at the opportunity. If I trashed talked more I may be more feared. But my job is to break them down in the ring, strip them of confidence, strip them of desire and strip them of winning."
Joshua will face Takam, a late replacement for the injured Kubrat Pulev, in front of an estimated 78,000 spectators at the Principality Stadium.
Daniel Lewis
