Anthony Joshua weighs nearly a STONE AND A HALF less than Francis Ngannou as ex-UFC champ beefs up after Tyson Fury loss

ANTHONY JOSHUA took part in a heated staredown with Francis Ngannou just moments after being dwarved on the scales.

Former two-time unified heavyweight king AJ will lock horns with the MMA man mountain in a lucrative Riyadh rumble on Friday night.

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Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou throw down on Friday night[/caption]

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Former UFC champ Francis Ngannou weighed in at a whopping 272lbs[/caption]

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Joshua tipped the scales at 252.4lbs – nearly a stone and a half lighter than his foe[/caption]

The pair have been nothing but cordial with one another ahead of their multi-million-pound melee.

But tensions were clearly high in their final staredown.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou weighed in first, tipping the scales at 272lbs.

Joshua, 34, soon followed and weighed in at 252.4lbs

AJ weighed in at a solid 251lbs for his December dust-up with Otto Wallin last December.

Ngannou, meanwhile, weighed in at 271.1lbs for his first foray into the ring last October against Tyson Fury.

ANTHONY JOSHUA VS FRANCIS NGANNOU: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF HUGE CROSSOVER BOUT

Ngannou, 37, shocked the world with a stellar display against The Gypsy King – who he dropped in the third round.

‘The Predator’ suffered a split decision defeat to the former WBC heavyweight king, who clearly underestimated his boxing ability.

And Nganou’s head coach reckons Fury’s shortcomings have heaped additional pressure on the shoulders of AJ.

In an exclusive with SunSport, he said: “I see him not being tentative.

“Why? Because he has to get that monkey off his back.

“He has to outdo Tyson Fury. So he’s going to come out fighting.”

Cooper added: “We expect him to come out strong and confident, the way he did against Otto Wallin in his last fight.

“That’s what he expects and we’ll be ready for it.

“Power versus power, fire versus fire, thats what this fight will be.”