Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are on the collision course for late 2026, but Joshua has business to take care of first in what is expected to be, frankly, an easy tune-up fight against Kristian Prenga on July 25.
Promoter Eddie Hearn sees the tune-up as necessary, and also remembered Fury saying Joshua didn’t need any tune-up, which Hearn disagrees with.
“He said to us, ‘Oh, you don’t need another fight.’ We had four rounds with Jake Paul, I mean, in two years of boxing, like, come on,” Hearn told Sky Sports after today’s press conference.
Joshua (29-4, 26 KO) actually went into the sixth round with Paul last December, though keen-eyed observers may agree that there were about four rounds of actual work in that fight, possibly less. Joshua hadn’t fought since September 2024, when he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois, and that really was his last serious, competitive fight.
Really, it’s his only serious, competitive fight since 2023, as before Dubois, he fought Francis Ngannou in another check-cashing novelty affair, where he trounced the former UFC champion inside of two rounds, after Ngannou had given Fury some real trouble in 2023, only adding fuel to their long-running headlines rivalry.
Hearn also says he saw something in Fury’s April win over Arslanbek Makhmudov that Joshua may be able to capitalize on.
“You had 12 rounds with Makhmudov at Tottenham. But you still feel like you need more rounds to prepare yourself for Anthony Joshua. But let me tell you something now, more rounds ain’t gonna help you. Because I see it. When Makhmudov came forward in that fight — I just know what AJ’s gonna do.
“If we keep this confidence, if we can go in there and put a great performance together [against Prenga], we go into that Tyson Fury fight with so much momentum. This will be a major moment for the sport. But [the Prenga fight] has to be done.”
Fury (35-2-1, 24 KO) is also expected to have another tune-up. His promoter, Frank Warren, had said there would be an announcement last week. There was not.
Joshua has been training with former rival Oleksandr Usyk, who owns two wins over both AJ and Fury.
Fury vs Joshua — or Joshua vs Fury, whatever it winds up being for promotional JPEGs — is expected to take place in November or December.
