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 before hopefully each other, over successive nights in opposite parts of the world.
First up Friday (24 July), ‘AJ’ will face undefeated Albanian Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and, next night, the ‘Gypsy King’ will meet aging Polish warhorse and perennial contender Mariusz Wach in Pattaya, Thailand.
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 to 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, age 36, 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.
Fury, at near aged 38, 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 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 the challenge for Fury (and any audience !).
We expect the former two-time world heavyweight champion, Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs), to exhibit all his boxing skills and secure a mid-round stoppage too.
These fights will only serve to shake the rust off both elite fighters and then it should be full steam ahead to certainly the British boxing event of the decade. The significance on world events 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.
The Undisputed 