Anthony Joshua might fight Tyson Fury this year, but it won’t be next.
The 36-year-old Joshua (29-4, 26 KO) will return to the ring on July 25 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, facing Albanian-American club fighter Kristian Prenga.
The idea is clearly for Joshua to shake any rust he may feel in what should frankly be a short night,
but it will get a full training camp in for the former heavyweight titleholder, which is probably the more important thing.
Joshua did fight in December, knocking out Jake Paul in the sixth round, but took time away from boxing after that following a tragic accident that killed two of his friends and team members not long after the bout.
Fury just returned on April 11 with a win over Arslanbek Makhmudov, and has called for the Joshua fight, which seems like it will happen, but it’s seemed that way before.
Prenga (20-1, 20 KO) is not a threat on paper, not even near the way Andy Ruiz was back in 2019, a loss that also derailed supposed Fury vs AJ plans. Prenga started his career 10 years ago, fighting in Germany, then took his career to Canada, and has fought in the States now for years, low-level bouts against the likes of Joey Dawejko and Willie Jake Jr, for two kinda-familiar names. He’s scored a lot of early knockout wins, but the competition has been very limited.
Still, he’s a big guy, listed at 6’5” and weighing 260-265 lbs for his bouts, but he’s not a serious threat, no. Or shouldn’t be.
A win for AJ could set up the Fury bout finally, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to have the deal done going in, and for the announcement to be made in the ring in Riyadh when it’s over. But we’ll see.
