Anthony Joshua saw vulnerabilities in Tyson Fury while watching his British rival from ringside at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April.
There purely to take notes on a rival he was in negotiations to fight later in the year, Joshua refused to enter the ring on Fury’s request after the comebacking former champion had been confirmed as a unanimous decision victor over Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Fury, 35-2-1 (24 KOs), then did Fury things. He shouted, he laughed, he teased. But there was nothing he could have done to get Joshua in the ring that night.
“The contracts weren’t signed,” Joshua explained to DAZN about his decision to stay seated. “If they had been I’d have got in the ring. I was there on a scouting mission. Let’s see what my future opponents are going to look like… I saw a lot. I saw some good, I saw some vulnerabilities in there.”
Joshua returns on July 25 against Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia. A warm-up, before fighting Fury later in the year, was always the plan.
“When [Fury] asked me to get in the ring, it’s a Tyson Fury show. Why am I going to get in the ring at a Tyson Fury show? If he wants to come into the ring, after I win on July 25, feel welcome. Come into my territory; I’m the landlord, I’m going to welcome you into my home… If he wants, come to Jeddah, we can get in the ring, face to face, ‘cos the contracts are signed. I need to get through Prenga, which I’m going to, then I’m going to relish in the Tyson Fury fight.”
Joshua has been through a lot recently. The circus-style, pre-Christmas Jake Paul contest, won in six by “AJ”, was followed post-Christmas by the horror of a tragic car accident in Nigeria. Joshua made it from the wreckage alive. Two of his closest friends, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, did not.
Going straight from that, and into a fight with Fury, was never an option for Joshua, 29- 4 (26 KOs). He admits he needs the performance against Prenga to act as a confidence booster; he wants to feel like his old self again. Destructive. Fearless. Ambitious.
