The Undisputed

Saturday’s second round blowout by ‘Dynamite’ Daniel Dubois of compatriot Fabio Wardley at London’s O2 Arena sent a firm message through the heavyweight division. This 29-year old sure can punch and he’s on a collision course to unify the yet again splintered division.

Dubois made a first successful defence of his WBO heavyweight championship which he’d collected off Wardley back in May. He is also a previous holder of the IBF title, having gained it by succession and subsequently relinquishing it to Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley Stadium in July 2025.

Usyk, the recognised world #1, has seen off all former champions and contenders in a flawless 25-0 (16 KOs) record. He holds two victories over all the main Brits; Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dubois. At 39-years-old he holds all the main bragging rights and cards, but his longevity is surely numbered.

The current WBC champion is Agit Kabayel and WBO champion Filip Hrgovic, both having picked up titles reliquished by Usyk. The latter has a recent impressive TKO of the supposed next big-thing Moses Itauma.

Both Kabayel and Hrgovic are 34-years-old. Itauma is the outlier at aged 21 and surely the future of the division despite his recent capitulation against Hrgovic.

Dubois holds a victory over Hrgovic and for now seems to be the man who promises most in terms of his ability to unify the title. His TKO victory was emphatic, taking control of the fight after only 17 seconds with a ballistic right hand. That Wardley lasted well into the second round was only the result of his extreme bravery and a compassionate referee.

The Londoner’s victory over the Ipswich-man was dominant as you will see at this level. He pasted him from the opening bell to the stoppage on 2.21 of the second round. Dubois moved onto 24-3 (23 KOs) and has never looked better.

The heavyweight roadshow next rolls into Dusseldorf, Germany and Agit Kabayel’s first WBC defence against Nelson Hysa on November 28.

The Turkish-German Kabayel (27-0, 19 KOs) faces an undefeated Albanian puncher (25-0, 23 KOs). The fight falls on Albanian Independence Day so a rauctious atmosphere is expected.

Then, on December 11 onto Cardiff, Wales and the long awaited Fury-Joshua match. The fight has been 8 years in the making and these both remain the two biggest names and box office draws in the division.

We hope and expect to see some unification of the titles next year, but are probably 18-24 months away from any semblance of an undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. It doesn’t make sound business sense for the promoters, media outlets and sanctioning bodies.

Chaos appears to reign again, much to the frustration of the casual fan and those who see the heavyweight division as being Boxing. To the fanatic there are many good fights and twists and turns to get to that.

Enjoy the ride !

Bombs away !

That was the tone at last night’s weigh-in and Thursday’s final press conference for the big heavyweight rematch tonight at London’s O2 Arena. This sees WBO champion Daniel Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) make a first defence of his title against compatriot Fabio Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs). This, only six months after they first met and the title dramatically changed hands.

The more experienced, but younger (29) south-Londoner Dubois, coming through two early knockdowns to prevail and stop the 31 year-old Ipswich-man on cuts late in the fight.

One of the repeated questions throughout fight week has been – Is that short turnaround long enough for Wardley to recover from his brutal effort and loss ?

His motivation has returned and his conditioning looks on-point, and it’s whether the facial damage he suffered and the ability to absorb punishment again will hold up. Psychologically he appears to have healed and has been as articulate and measured as ever throughout the build-up.

Both men stand at 6 foot 5 and have a 78 inch reach, so there will be little obvious advantages there.

On yesterday’s scales Wardley came in at 248.3lbs (17st, 7lbs) and Dubois 253.9 lbs (18st, 13lbs). The champion being slightly heavier than in recent outings and clearly looking on size being the telling factor.

All fight week the smart odds have been on Dubois to retain his title, using his good jab,, movement and more schooled skillset. Ultimately, his superior KO power being the difference. This has only increased in support as more opinions have been expressed.

After weighing everything up, we beg to differ, and favour the intelligence and desire of Wardley to find a way to win an explosive battle.

Much has been said of the ex-white collar fighter with limited professional and elite level experience being outclassed by the champion, but, DESIRE, intelligence and outright toughness will be the telling factors here.

We don’t doubt Dubois’ motivation and heart but expect Wardley to win by KO before the fifth round.

Expect knockdowns and fireworks. Enjoy !

The most brutal and entertaining fight of 2026 is due for rematch on Saturday (17 October) at the O2 Arena, London with WBO heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois facing compatriot and former titleholder Fabio Wardley.

Queensberry Promotions ‘Run It Back’ predicts a return of the ‘Fight of the Year’ and that may be delivered.

Their first meeting, only in May, was an absolute war with Dubois being floored twice, but prevailing ultimately via an eleventh round stoppage victory. Saturday promises more of the same.

After the first fight Londoner Dubois left the ring with Wardley’s belt, but that was the Ipswich man’s first defeat, and as his right, he invoked the immediate rematch opportunity. His confidence, though dented, does seem to be restored and he’s predicting victory by whatever.

At early September’s fight launch press conference it was evident there was a lot of mutual respect held by each fighter after their brutal first fight, but this was topped by optimism from both combatants of a KO victory.

Dubois (23-3-0, 22 KOs) promised to “Land the telling blow quicker and earlier … I’m gonna put things right this time and take him out in style … raise my game”.

Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs), said he’d “Mixed emotions last time” and had “a lot to go home with and chew over” after his tough defeat.

New champion Dubois on explaining his approach in the rematch said “I’ve got to break him down and beat him up”. He added “I wanna be the last man standing”. That would point to another slugfest and that’s sure to whet the viewers appetite.

Wardley replied “My aim is to right my wrongs and come through on top…I’m great at making adjustments…I’m great at adjusting…and will win by KO”.

This is sure to be another humdinger and a prediction is difficult this early in fight week. Watch out for our final posting this Friday.

Back in August 1990 a Benn breezed into Las Vegas for a second time and blew away a seasoned American inside three minutes.

That man was Nigel, the former two-divisional world champion, as he blitzed New Yorker Iran ‘The Blade’ Barkley at the Bally’s Resort Casino.

Admittedly, it was an opponent who’d seen his best days and was coming back from a long layoff after a detached retina diagnosis, but the manner in which the Englishman destroyed the former middleweight world champion was impressive, abeit very controversial.

Benn scored three knockdowns, with the first, including two unanswered punches whilst Barkley was slumped on the ropes from the first knockdown. Referee Carlos Padilla waved the fight on without a point deduction. Outrage ensued.

This week, the ‘Dark Destroyer’ has held court with the boxing media in support of his youngest son Conor Benn who is in deep tomorrow (12 September) with Californian-Mexican Ryan Garcia, the current WBC world middleweight champion. Held at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas the contest promises much and will be broadcast on the DAZN streaming platform as a pay-per-view event.

The champion, Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs), although impressive in his comeback from earlier defeats and a drug penalty, enters as the favourite. Benn (25-1, 14 KOs), who’s had his own legal challenges relating to supposed indiscretions, is moving down two weight classes after last winning a rematch against Chris Eubank Jnr. at middleweight.

Saturday’s fight is at 10st, 7lbs (147lbs) and Benn has openly admitted boiling down to make weight has been a massive challenge. He successfully managed to come in a pound inside at Friday’s weigh-in, but the outcome may be determined by how much strength he’s retained, especially if it goes into the later rounds.

Both are popular, good talkers and busy on social media. The pre-fight barbs have been frequent and entertaining.

Garcia stands a half inch taller at just over 5′ 8″ and has a two inch reach advantage. He also fights ‘taller’, using his jab and footwork, whilst the challenger fights like his father at 100% ‘throttle-down’. It’s sure to be entertaining for as long as it lasts !

We expect the left-hooking power of Garcia to prevail, but the aggressive but smart Briton, like his father before, to give it his all coming up short inside ten rounds. He will earn respect in defeat and come again.

Enjoy the fireworks !

English world-ranked heavyweights Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley faced off again yesterday at a London Bridge venue for the final time before going deep into training camp for their anticipated rematch for the former’s WBO heavyweight world championship.

Their first meeting back in May was a barnstormer and after eleven brutal rounds Londoner Dubois left the ring with Wardley’s belt. It was the Ipswich man’s first defeat, and as his right, he invoked the immediate rematch opportunity.

What was more hurtful with his defeat was he’d dropped Dubois twice en-route, but couldn’t seal the deal.

At yesterday’s Queensberry Promotions press conference, the ‘Run It Back’ promotion was officially launched and the event is to be held at the O2 Arena, London on Saturday 17 October.

On the promo it was confidently announced the ‘fight of the year returns’ and it is surely to sell out soon after tickets go on general sale.

In the presser it was evident there was a lot of mutual respect held by each fighter after their brutal first fight, but this was topped by optimism from both combatants of a KO victory.

In a short meeting before the main conference, we asked Dubois (23-3-0, 22 KOs) that other than win again what he proposed to do different to avoid the battle last time out. He replied with confidence “Land the telling blow quicker and earlier”.

At the main dais he substantiated this by saying “Mission accomplished first time…it’s a fresh start for me now, I feel even better. He continued “The game plan last time was to chip away. I’m gonna put things right this time and take him out in style … raise my game”.

Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs), after apologising for being a few minutes late, started his response to questions saying he had “Mixed emotions last time” and had “A lot to go home with and chew over” after his tough defeat.

In explaining his approach to the rematch he said “There’s some things we need to adjust and that’s what we worked on in this camp”. This alluded to an already well-advanced training camp with the fight still six weeks away. Both fighters looked in good shape already.

The new challenger continued “I felt a bit too comfortable with the knockdowns” adding he got “trigger happy and carried away – too relaxed and too comfortable”. He didn’t hesitate to take the rematch opportunity and believes that Dubois can’t change his gameplan i.e. a firefight.

New WBO champion Dubois explained his approach for the rematch. “I’ve got to break him down and beat him up”. He aadded “I wanna be the last man standing”. That would point to another slugfest and that’s sure to whet the viewers appetite.

Wardley on being asked on his approach replied “My aim is to right my wrongs and come through on top…I’m great atmaking adjustments…I’m great at adjusting…and win by KO”.

This is sure to be another humdinger and a prediction is difficult at this stage. Look for updates as we approach fightnight.

Tickets go on general sale tomorrow, Friday 4 September.

Chins do matter.

New Croatian-born IBF heavyweight world champion Filip Hrgovic proved this emphatically on Saturday night (29 July) in London when withstanding the onslaught of Moses Itauma over nine rounds to finally prevail.

Pre-fight, Hrgovic the new champion, had emphasised this point when responding to the press protestations and hype around Itauma’s rapid rise through the world rankings to challenge for the vacant title at a packed out O2 Arena on the banks of the River Thames. The 21-year-old from Chatham, Kent (via Slovakia) was perpetual motion throughout eight completed rounds, almost registering a complete shutout, but despite landing some bombs, and often repeatedly, he couldn’t make a concussive dent in the Croatian’s chin over that time.

Hrgovic touched down in the second round but that was the closest he came to showing any weakness.

The meteoric rise of Itauma (14-1, 12 KOs) from World Youth Champion to possibly be the second youngest heavyweight champion in professional boxing history (behind a 20-year-old Mike Tyson in 1986) was incredible. Sadly, for him and his team, he couldn’t finally get over the line on this occasion.

The young-Brit was rescued at 2:29 of round nine by the throwing in of the towel from Ben Davison his trainer in a compassionate attempt to halt proceedings as Itauma was swaying defenceless on the ropes, completely exhausted, and waiting for the Croat’s next assault.

Hrgovic (21-1, 16 KOs) showed heart, resilience and, called on all his experience, both amateur and pro to out-tough the youngster. At 34-years-old this was the zenith of the new champion’s achievement after winning bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympics and fighting all-comers as a pro.

It was a sensational fight that showed the fine lines between heavyweight success and failure, but there were no losers on this night. A captivated crowd of close to 20,000 and those watching pay-per-view on the DAZN streaming platform were entertained royally. Queensberry Promotions and Frank Warren, though disappointed with the outcome (Itauma being ‘their’ fighter), must have been happy with the event and the ‘coming of age’ of a genuine world title contender.

Itauma showed it all at such a young age but unravelled from his ferocity and his willingness to end the fight spectacularly rather than box to an invitable decision win. The term he ‘gassed out’ was cited by the new champion afterwards and repeatedly by the media in summing up the Brit’s performance. He was taken from the ring on a stretcher after the stoppage, hospitalised, but is now happily recovering at home. He will come again to the world title table, all the more experienced and ready after this hurtful night.

The co-feature saw world-ranked lightweight Sam Noakes, also Kent-based, beat former WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk unanimously on points over ten rounds. Noakes extends his impressive record to 19-1, 16 KOs and seeks a second world title shot after losing to WBO champion Abdullah Mason last November in a twelve round ‘firefight’ on a close points decision.

Berinchyk, an experienced Ukrainian London 2012 Olympic silver medallist dropped to 19-2, 9 KOs as pro, and his best days seem behind him.

The night though belonged to new IBF champion Filip Hrgovic and the future looks bright both achievement-wise and financially. The world honours are now again split four ways and unifications await.

Ron Jackson – a living appreciation

What South African boxing historian, correspondent, broadcaster, collector and, number one fan, Ron Jackson doesn’t know about the history of South African boxing either, didn’t happen or, is not worth knowing !

For most of his life, from a young boy to today, his 90th birthday, he’s loved and followed the sport with a passion.

In recent years, he’s taken a back seat as other priorities have taken over (family, health etc’) but he’s never lost that boyish enthusiasm for the sport that he first felt when he used to pop down the road in Johannesburg with his pocket money to pick up his monthly copy of The Ring magazine.

To put into context Ron’s longevity, he was born the year that Adolf Hitler and his Nazi propaganda machine hosted the Berlin Olympic Games and American Jesse Owens stole the show winning four gold medals.

World War II would follow on the turn of decade and many fighters would have to mobilise to war or have their careers seriously interrupted or ended for related reasons.

Ron was captivated by boxing at age 11 when South African light-heavyweight George Hunter won gold at the 1948 London Olympic Games, and with it the Val Barker trophy for best stylist. His country would also top the boxing medal table that year.

In May 1950 South Africa had their first universally recognised world champion in Vic Toweel. A bantamweight from a fighting family that became a South African dynasty and resulted in many future champions and challengers from that sunkissed country. Ron Jackson, still young and only in his teens, would lap it up and from then on be ‘front and centre’ in South African boxing media coverage.

Ron would appear on South African national and cable TV as an expert analyst and record keeper, be a major contributor to The Ring magazine and, edit and contribute to many prestigious long-since retired fight publications in his homeland. He also had a major role in the annual selection of the South African boxer(s) of the year awards, formerly sponsored by King Korn.

His writing zenith was in 2017 by the completion and release of his masterpiece book ‘Champions’ – An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of SA Boxing. This is the definitive reference of all South African fighters and events up to that date.

A very Happy Birthday Ron from this writer and all your fans and readers at The Undisputed. Have a wonderful day and here’s to many more happy and healthy years watching and following the sport you love. We’re privileged to have you in our team and being able to read the stories you share.

Our heartfelt best wishes.

Finally, as a tribute to Ron’s knowledge and boxing journey we have approval to publish his article and view on South Africa’s boxing best:-

South Africa’s Ten Greatest of All Time

In his book “The 100 Greatest Boxers of All Time” Bert Randolph Sugar writes “In the days of Olde”, religious contemplatives were wont to argue over minor points of esoterica, like the number of angels on heads of pins, and other such wonderfulness’s. Boxing contemplatives go through the same .. exercises. Only their arguments centre around the word “Greatest”- as who was the “Greatest” this and the “Greatest” that “.

How do you measure who was the greatest of all time? In the same book Bert Sugar offers the following elements in the making of greatness. Stamina, competition, you have to fight the best to be the best. Another factor is durability, and judgement must be made at a fighter’s peak. Also, there are the old men who talk of the good old days as if the clock has not moved.

The aforementioned factors of greatness mentioned by Bert are all valid and acceptable, but I have the following factors in order to measure greatness; longevity, historical impact, quality of opposition, achievements and talent ratio.

Using these five elements in my formula I will try to rate in order, South Africa’s top ten fighters of the century.

Any form of measurement, is however subjective, but possibly the most asked question by fight fans when they get together is; who was the greatest or could boxer A from 1920 have beaten boxer B from 1960. There will be people out there who will not agree with my list or even express outrage at some of my selections, but anyhow here we go.

After working on a scale of 1 to 10 for each category I have come up with the following list:

1.  Vic Toweel and Brian Mitchell (jointly)

3.  Vuyani Bungu

4.   Willie Toweel

5.   Lawrie Stevens

6.   Gerrie Coetzee

7.   Enoch “Schoolboy” Nhlapo

8.   Baby Jake Matlala

9.   Jake Tuli

10. Dingaan Thobela

Ron will happily tell you about all these fighters. Just drop him a line or pop in for a chat in his nearest coffee shop in the South African Cape.

As he begins his journey to rack up another decade and in cricketing parlance ‘raise his bat’ he’d like nothing more than to ‘chew the fat’ over who really was the greatest boxer.

Happy 90th Ron. Have a great day.

Oddities in the heavyweight championship

In the 1850s and ‘60s the title of “middleweight” began to be used for all men below 156 lbs (70.75kg). Those above this limit were all considered heavyweights.

It was not until the 1880s, after the widespread adoption of the Queensberry rules, that a real effort was made to standardise weight divisions both in England and America.

During 1910 leading authorities got together and agreement was reached on the different divisions from Paperweight 105lbs (47.63kg) to Heavyweight exceeding 175 lbs (79.38kg).

Some of the heaviest men to take part in professional boxing or prize fights were Ewart Potgieter, a South African fighter of the 1950s who weighed 335lbs (152kg) and Charles Freeman an American who fought William Perry in 1842, who weighed in at 320lbs (145.15kg).

Talking of knockdowns, Floyd Patterson was knocked down 16 times during his career as a world champion. Seven times in the first fight with Ingemar Johansson; twice in their third bout, one in the first fight with Sonny Liston, three times in the second bout with Liston; once each in the fights with Pete Rademacher, Tom McNeely and Roy Harris.

When Rademacher, who won the heavyweight Olympic gold medal at the 1956 games, fought Patterson for the heavyweight championship he was making his professional debut.

Nikolay Valuev from Russia who fought from 1993 to 2009 was 2.13m and weighed 146kg, won the WBA version of the heavyweight title when he beat John Ruiz on 1 October 2005.

During 1927 Jack Dempsey knocked Gene Tunney down in the famous long count battle and then failed to go to the neutral corner in terms of the amended rules, the length of the knockdown was timed at 14 seconds by some experts and 16 by others.

There was no official distance for heavyweight title fights during Jack Dempsey’s time. His fight with Jess Willard for the title was scheduled for 12 rounds as was the Georges Carpentier fight.

The Firpo match was scheduled for 15 rounds and both fights with Tunney were over 10 rounds.

Jack Dempsey came within an ace of losing his crown against the Wild Bull of the Pampas Luis Angel Firpo who was a big, rough savage performer. Firpo was floored seven times and Dempsey went down twice in two rounds, before losing to Dempsey.

But in three minutes and fifty seven seconds, Dempsey was knocked clear through the ropes and out of the ring and among much controversy; and it has been reported that had he not been helped by the hands of newspapermen he would not have made it back into the ring in time. However, this has been disputed.

Leon Spinks only held the heavyweight title from 15 February 1978 to 15 September 1978, seven months, the shortest reign in the division, whereas Joe Louis won the title on 22 June 1937 and retired as undefeated world champion after 25 successful defences on 1 March 1949.

He had been at the helm for 11 years eight months, the longest reign in the heavyweight division.

No light heavyweight champion has been successful at winning the undisputed heavyweight title.

The following fighters all failed in their bid; Philadelphia Jack O’Brien, Georges Carpentier, Tommy Loughran, John Henry Lewis, Billy Conn, Joey Maxim, Archie Moore and Bob Foster.

Michael Spinks won the International Boxing Federation version when he defeated Larry Holmes on points over 15 rounds on 21 September 1985.

The quickest knockout in an undisputed heavyweight title fight was when Tommy Burns knocked out Jem Roche in 1 minute 28 seconds in Dublin, Ireland on 17 March 1908.

The official time recorded was one minute when Muhammad Ali stopped Sonny Liston on 25 May 1965 but however, watches synchronised to TV film frames caught Liston down for 1 minute 42 seconds and the fight halted by Jersey Joe Walcott at 2:17.

On 12 October 1982 Michael Dokes stopped Mike Weaver at 1 minute and 3 seconds of the first round to claim the WBA version of the heavyweight title. The stoppage was highly controversial.

The first world heavyweight championship contest to be televised was at Madison Square Garden on 5 December 1947 when Joe Louis retained his title on a split decision against Jersey Joe Walcott.

The largest receipts ever for a heavyweight championship fight at the time was, $4 806 675 at the Superdome New Orleans when Muhammad Ali defeated Leon Spinks in their second fight on 15 September 1978. This was only for the WBA title.

The largest attendance at a world heavyweight title fight was 120 757 when Dempsey lost his title to Gene Tunney in Philadelphia on 23 September 1926.

Jersey Joe Walcott became the oldest man at the time to win the undisputed heavyweight championship when at 37 years and 168 days he won the crown from Ezzard Charles in 1951 on his fifth attempt.

At the age of 45 George Foreman won the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles on 5 November 1994 when he knocked out Michael Moorer in the tenth round.

Referee Arthur Donovan handled 14 undisputed world title fights, with 12 of those when Joe Louis defended his title.

Well, we got there … just.

Saturday’s scare in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Anthony Joshua, lifting himself up off the canvas twice in the opening round, surviving on shaky legs, and then rallying to dispatch massive underdog Kristian Prenga after 2:43 minutes of the second round, for moments, seriously put the Tyson Fury meeting in jeopardy. Or at least a meeting for anything that had any meaning other than national bragging rights.

That ‘AJ’ was able to rally and prevail after coming through such trauma was in itself a result. He was dropped by a right uppercut within seconds of the opening bell, by an opponent, whilst no one gave a hope beforehand, was at least coming in with a 20-1 (20 KOs) record.

Although touching down for a second time in the opening round, Joshua’s recovery was only remotely complete by the opening bell for the second round. The minute in between rounds was a Godsend and he was helped immensely by Prenga not seizing on his initiative and advantage from the first.

Millions of pounds/dollars were at risk if Prenga had managed to derail the Joshua-Fury match, and maybe disappear up in smoke completely. We can be thankful that wasn’t the case.

The ‘Gypsy King’ Fury had managed to keep his part of the bargain in Pattaya, Thailand a night earlier with a comprehensive, albeit laboured, seventh round stoppage of Mariusz Wach. The Polish warhorse never threatened to win and succumbed between the 7 and 8th round to his round-by-round beat up to then.

We now await the date and venue to the biggest ‘money’ fight in boxing. London should be favourite given the nationality and draw of the protagonists, but an outdoor autumn stadium fight in the UK would tend to lessen the odds. Look to Las Vegas or even Saudi Arabia again being the venue.

Such is the draw of Fury and Joshua in the UK that it has to be a stadium fight, and if that happens, it won’t happen in 2026. Watch this space for further updates. For now, we’re just thankful that it remains a possibility taking place at all.

Are we gonna get it ? And, if we do, is it gonna mean anything outside of the UK and to world boxing ?

These questions are likely to be answered, certainly to a large extent, by the turn of this weekend when British marquee heavyweights and former ‘world’ champions Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, will face far inferior opposition on successive nights in opposite parts of the world, before hopefully facing each other.

First up Friday (24 July), the ‘Gypsy King’ will meet aging Polish warhorse and perennial contender Mariusz Wach in Pattaya, Thailand. Then, next night ‘AJ’ will face undefeated Albanian Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The aim of both British fighters and their respective promoters is for the former world champions to firstly win, and secondly to look good in doing it. Then, the stage is set, even though we don’t yet know where that will be, and the hype machine will go into full overdrive for the meeting to end all British debates as to who was best – Joshua or Fury.

So what chance do either have of losing ?

The biggest threat for AJ (29-4, 26 KOs) is whether after the tragic circumstances just before Christmas 2025, blessingly surviving a horrific car accident, will play on his mind when facing a motivated adversary for the first time in the square ring.

Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs) does have some credentials to potentially cause the never always ‘iron-chinned’ Joshua problems. The downside is that the Albanian has never fought in such esteemed company and certainly not on a promotion of this magnitude with jeopardy attached.

If Joshua, aged 36, and having not boxed professionally since December 2025 can ‘exorcise the demons’ and start in a composed way, we expect his class to overwhelm the 35-year-old Prenga, sometime around the sixth. Joshua could get clipped, which may render any prediction foolish, but we don’t see this happening.

Tyson Fury, at near 38, has only been out of the ring since April, registering a unanimous points win over against Russian giant Arslanbek Mahkmudov.

Poland’s Wach, 46-years-old, and with a 39-13 (20 KOs) record is coming to his inevitable end as a fighter, but has always been durable, eventually folding when in top company. He will likely be on the back foot from the opening bell and boredom will then be the challenge for Fury (and any watching audience !).

We expect the former two-time ‘lineal’ world heavyweight champion Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs), to exhibit all his boxing skills and secure a mid-round stoppage too.

These contests will only serve to shake the ‘ring-rust’ off both elite fighters and then it should be full steam ahead to certainly the British boxing event of the decade. The significance to the world stage and any championship challenge pecking order will unfold in due course.

The Joshua-Prenga fight is available as a pay-per-view event on the DAZN platform, and Fury-Wach not being transmitted to date.