The diplomacy came to an end on Friday as heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua and Kubrat Pulev engaged in a heated war of words after hitting the scales on the eve of their fight at SSE Arena in London (DAZN).

Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) weighed in at 240.8 pounds, 3.8 heavier than he did for his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. in December of last year, his most-recent fight.

Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) weighed 239.7, his lightest since 2009.

The 39-year-old Bulgarian challenger, who had some vocal supporters at the weigh-in, launched a final attempt to get into Joshua’s head as the two went face to face for a routine photo opportunity

Most of what he was barking into Joshua’s face was difficult to make out because of Puelv’s protective mask. Whatever it was, the champion took exception and was visibly annoyed.

It took the entire on-site security team to separate the two as they refused to back down from one another. As Joshua left the stage, Pulev could be heard shouting: “Tomorrow, I show you. You know I’m right, you know I’m better.”

His shouting continued even as online coverage hosts Chris Lloyd and Darren Barker attempted to wrap things up. Moments later, they were joined by Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who was in the middle of the fracas and made out some of the comments that were exchanged.

“It was weird, I wasn’t expecting it,” said Hearn. “Just wow. It was brilliant. A lot was said up there. Pulev kept saying, ‘You’re nothing, you’ve beaten nobody, I’ll end you tomorrow.’ And Joshua bit. He replied, who has Pulev beaten?

“If anyone thinks that was staged, I’ve got the skid marks to prove it wasn’t.”

The chief support bout pits Joshua’s friend and fellow Olympian Lawrence Okolie (14-0, 11 KOs) against late-replacement opponent Nikodem Jezewski (19-0-1, 9 KOs) in a cruiserweight fight. The winner is expected to face Krzysztof Glowacki for the vacant WBO title.

Glowacki was due to face Okolie’s on Dec. 5 in the latter’s first world title opportunity but Glowacki tested positive for COVID-19.

Both men weighed in just inside the cruiserweight limit, Okolie at 199.8 and Jezewski at 199.7.

Also, Hughie Fury (24-3, 14 KOs) and Mariusz Wach (36-6, 19 KOs) weighed 247.3 and 274.35, respectively, for their 10-round heavyweight bout.

Martin Bakole (15-1, 12 KOs) faces Sergey Kuzmin (15-1, 11 KOs) in another heavyweight bout. Kuzmin weighed 258.45, Bakole 251.4.

And Kieron Conway (15-1-1, 3 KOs) and Macaulay McGowan (14-1-1, 3 KOs) weighed 160 and 158.5, respectively, for their middleweight fight.

[lawrence-related id=16250,16243,16196,16190]

The diplomacy came to an end on Friday as heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua and Kubrat Pulev engaged in a heated war of words after hitting the scales on the eve of their fight at SSE Arena in London (DAZN).

Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) weighed in at 240.8 pounds, 3.8 heavier than he did for his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. in December of last year, his most-recent fight.

Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) weighed 239.7, his lightest since 2009.

The 39-year-old Bulgarian challenger, who had some vocal supporters at the weigh-in, launched a final attempt to get into Joshua’s head as the two went face to face for a routine photo opportunity

Most of what he was barking into Joshua’s face was difficult to make out because of Puelv’s protective mask. Whatever it was, the champion took exception and was visibly annoyed.

It took the entire on-site security team to separate the two as they refused to back down from one another. As Joshua left the stage, Pulev could be heard shouting: “Tomorrow, I show you. You know I’m right, you know I’m better.”

His shouting continued even as online coverage hosts Chris Lloyd and Darren Barker attempted to wrap things up. Moments later, they were joined by Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who was in the middle of the fracas and made out some of the comments that were exchanged.

“It was weird, I wasn’t expecting it,” said Hearn. “Just wow. It was brilliant. A lot was said up there. Pulev kept saying, ‘You’re nothing, you’ve beaten nobody, I’ll end you tomorrow.’ And Joshua bit. He replied, who has Pulev beaten?

“If anyone thinks that was staged, I’ve got the skid marks to prove it wasn’t.”

The chief support bout pits Joshua’s friend and fellow Olympian Lawrence Okolie (14-0, 11 KOs) against late-replacement opponent Nikodem Jezewski (19-0-1, 9 KOs) in a cruiserweight fight. The winner is expected to face Krzysztof Glowacki for the vacant WBO title.

Glowacki was due to face Okolie’s on Dec. 5 in the latter’s first world title opportunity but Glowacki tested positive for COVID-19.

Both men weighed in just inside the cruiserweight limit, Okolie at 199.8 and Jezewski at 199.7.

Also, Hughie Fury (24-3, 14 KOs) and Mariusz Wach (36-6, 19 KOs) weighed 247.3 and 274.35, respectively, for their 10-round heavyweight bout.

Martin Bakole (15-1, 12 KOs) faces Sergey Kuzmin (15-1, 11 KOs) in another heavyweight bout. Kuzmin weighed 258.45, Bakole 251.4.

And Kieron Conway (15-1-1, 3 KOs) and Macaulay McGowan (14-1-1, 3 KOs) weighed 160 and 158.5, respectively, for their middleweight fight.

[lawrence-related id=16250,16243,16196,16190]