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Anthony Joshua side-stepped talk of Tyson Fury before his fight with Kristian Prenga, but knows he cannot “conquer the universe” without victory in Jeddah on Saturday night.
Former two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua will return to the ring in Saudi Arabia a day after long-standing rival Fury takes on Mariusz Wach in Thailand on Friday.
Both Fury’s bout with Wach and Joshua’s contest with little-known Albanian Prenga are viewed as tune-up fights before an all-British blockbuster battle later in 2026, which is expected to be hosted at Wembley.
Anthony Joshua is back in action on Saturday (John Walton/PA) (PA Wire)
However, Joshua refused to overlook his 35-year-old opponent during Thursday’s press conference, he said: “Look, respect my opponent here.
“We don’t want to talk about Tyson Fury. Respectfully, I have done all the media that I can about what the future holds but you know our focus is him and his team.
“We have been working since January, working hard, keeping my head down, aligned all my stars and I am fully focused.
“I understand there is a big picture. The goal is to conquer the universe, right? But first we must conquer earth. My target is here.”
This is Joshua’s first fight since he stopped YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Miami last December before days later the British heavyweight was involved in a car crash in Nigeria which killed close friends Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele and Sina Ghami.
At that point Joshua’s career hinged in the balance with speculation the 36-year-old may never box again, but after a period of grief, he returned to the gym and an agreement was finally reached to fight Fury, but only after a warm-up with Prenga was pencilled in beforehand.
Tyson Fury lurks in the backdrop to Joshua’s fight (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)
“When you speak to me about what may lay ahead or I sit down in an office with Eddie (Hearn) and he presents to me what may lay ahead, it is a great opportunity for me to understand where this checkpoint takes me and what it leads me on to,” Joshua said.
“The reality of the matter is there is no universe, there is no future unless I get past this checkpoint on Saturday night.”
Prenga has produced 20 knockouts but campaigned well below the level of Joshua and this will be the biggest occasion of his career.
“I work all my life for this, I waited all my life for this and I hope I am going to show the world on Saturday who I am,” Prenga said.
“I respect Anthony Joshua very much, I grew up watching all his fights and I have seen his weakness, I have seen what he does best and I will show exactly what I have paid attention to.”
Asked how it will finish, Prenga said: “I’m just going to say it short, knock-out.”
