Eddie Hearn reveals what he’s expecting from a leaner, meaner Anthony Joshua against Andy Ruiz

The usually hulking 6ft 6in heavyweight looked far leaner than usual as he performed a public workout on Tuesday

Anthony Joshua is expected to come in at his lightest for years after ditching much of his strength and conditioning training in order to focus on boxing.

The usually hulking 6ft 6in heavyweight looked far leaner than usual as he performed a public workout at the Public Investment Fund office complex here in central Riyadh.

And his promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed that the scales will tell their own story on Friday when he weighs in ahead of Saturday’s crucial world title rematch with world heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr.

The Mexican-American stunned world boxing on June 1 when he stopped the Englishman inside seven rounds at Madison Square Garden and the defeat has provoked a big change in Joshua’s training regime.

And the shift in emphasis appears to have produced a lighter, faster Joshua, which could be key for his bid to regain the WBA, WBO and IBF titles.

Hearn said: “I don’t like talking about weight, because last time I said he would be at his lightest ever and he came in at his heaviest ever. But you will see something. He looks great, he feels great and he is lean, lean, I don’t know about the weight but it is going to be light.

“It’s not intentional like he has been dieting to lose weight, he has cut out a lot of strength and conditioning work and this camp has been boxing related. He has just done rounds and rounds of sparring, rounds and rounds of technique. He was training too hard, he is training smarter now.”

Joshua came in at 17st 9 3/4lbs for his initial encounter with Ruiz, which was two pounds heavier than he was when he beat Alexander Povetkin nine months earlier.

“When I saw him in New York and for Povetkin as well, he looked drained because he had worked his bollocks off in camp,” Hearn added. “I’m hoping he doesn’t feel like that now, he feels great. But that has been a problem. He has learnt what his body can do. He is boxing fit.

“Look at Ruiz. All he does is spar, but he is boxing fit. He could go 12 rounds whether he has put on a stone, lost a stone. He has had to learn things, like pacing a fight, that come naturally to Ruiz. He is in a great place.”