Dillian Whyte was significantly lighter Friday for his fight against Alexander Povetkin than he weighed for his victory over Mariusz Wach.

London’s Whyte stepped on the British Boxing Board of Control’s scale at 252.6 pounds, a sure sign that he is taking the former WBA heavyweight champion as a serious threat. Whyte weighed a career-high 271 pounds for his 10-round, unanimous-decision win against Wach on December 7 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

Russia’s Povetkin officially weighed 224 pounds for their 12-round fight Saturday night in Brentwood, England.

Whyte, 32, and Povetkin, 40, will fight for Whyte’s WBC interim heavyweight title on the grounds of Matchroom Boxing’s headquarters, which is also where they weighed in. The bout between Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) and Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs) will headline a Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view show in the United Kingdom (7 p.m. BST; £19.95) and DAZN’s stream in the United States (2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT).

If Whyte wins, he’ll maintain his position as the WBC’s mandatory challenger for champion Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs).

England’s Fury first must face former champion Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) a third time. The third Fury-Wilder fight tentatively is scheduled for December 19 at an undetermined venue.

Earlier Friday, Katie Taylor and Delfine Persoon made weight for their highly anticipated lightweight championship rematch.

Ireland’s Taylor came in at 134.3 pounds. Belgium’s Persoon weighed 132.7 pounds.

The 34-year-old Taylor (15-0, 6 KOs) recorded a controversial, majority-decision, 10-round win over the 35-year-old Persoon (44-2, 18 KOs) in June 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York. She’ll defend her IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 135-pound titles against Persoon.

The weights for the first three fights on Matchroom’s card Saturday night are listed below.

Luther Clay (13-1, 5 KOs), Bracknell, England, 145.8 pounds vs. Chris Kongo (11-0, 6 KOs), London, 145.6 pounds, 10 rounds, welterweights.

Shawndell Winters (13-3, 12 KOs), Harvey, Illinois, 194 pounds vs. Alen Babic (3-0, 3 KOs), Zagreb, Croatia, 205 pounds, 8 rounds, heavyweights.

Jack Cullen (18-2, 9 KOs), Bolton, England, 164.6 pounds vs. Zak Chelli (7-1, 3 KOs), London, 164.8 pounds, 10 rounds, super middleweights. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.