Mahmoud Charr will enter the ring at his heaviest weight in nearly twelve years.

On the other side of the banner, Kubrat Pulev dismissed the official weight read at the scale. The former title challenger insisted he was much lighter ahead of their WBA ‘Regular’ heavyweight title fight.

Charr (34-4, 20 knockouts) checked in at 257 pounds (116.6 kilograms) during Friday’s official weigh-in. Event officials announced Pulev (31-3, 14 KOs) at 114 kg. (251.3 pounds).

However, Pulev noted that he weighed in fully clothed and was really much closer to 111 kg. (244 ¾ pounds).

Whatever the case, the pair of middle-aged heavyweights are set for their scheduled 12-round secondary WBA title fight at Arena Sofia in Sofia, Bulgaria (Saturday, DAZN, 12:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. local time).

Charr weighed his heaviest since Dec. 2012, when he was 262 ¼ pounds in a 2nd round knockout of Yakup Saglam (28-1 at the time) in Galati, Romania. The 40-year-old heavyweight will attempt his first defense as the reinstated secondary WBA titleholder. His status was renewed last summer, as part of a court settlement with the WBA.

Germany’s Charr previously won the manufactured belt in Nov. 2017. He never defended due to a litany of issues with opponents, drug testing and ultimately a travel ban which ended his reign in Jan. 2021.

Just three fights came after that debacle to extend his current six-fight win streak, although none since a Dec. 2022 second-round knockout of Nuri Seferi in Hamburg, Germany. Saturday will end his second-longest ring absence.

The fight is also the first outside of Germany for Charr since an Aug. 2015 knockout loss to Mairis Briedis in Grozny, Germany.

Pulev has won three of his last four starts since a Dec. 2020 knockout loss to then IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs; The Ring No. 7 heavyweight).

The lone defeat during that stretch was a disputed twelve-round, split decision to Derek Chisora (35-13, 23 KOs) in July 2022. Pulev rebounded with lopsided decision wins over Andrzej Wawrzyk (34-2 at the time) in Costa Mesa, California and Igor Shevadzutksky (11-1 at the time). The latter was held on March 30 in his Sofia hometown.

Pulev’s lone other career defeat came in his first title challenge. The 2008 Olympian for Bulgaria was stopped in the fifth round by Wladimir Klitschko in their Nov. 2014 Ring, WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight championship in Hamburg, Germany.