British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua said on Monday that he will not celebrate the long-awaited deal for a clash with rival Tyson Fury until after he has won the fight, emphasising that signing a contract does not mean anything. Joshua stated that the pleasure really comes after victory, and that winning is the only true success.
The pair are heading for a ‘Battle of Britain’, likely in November, but before that, both boxers are planning warm-up fights. Joshua will face unheralded Albanian Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia on July 25, marking his first bout since being involved in a car crash in Nigeria last December that killed two of his close friends.
The fight was originally scheduled to take place in Riyadh, but at their head-to-head press conference, it was revealed that it had been moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city. The 36-year-old Joshua has not fought a meaningful opponent since being knocked out by Daniel Dubois in September 2024. He said that boxing gives him an opportunity to work, that he is a contractor, and this is a contract, his job. He added that he knows what his year looks like: first the chance to fight Prenga, then the chance to fight Fury, then the chance to fight for the championship.
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Fury last week posted a video on his Instagram story showing him back in training in Thailand with a caption suggesting he would fight on August 1 in Dublin, Ireland. The 37-year-old Fury could take a place on a card being organised by veteran promoter Frank Warren in the Irish capital on that date, though no opponent has yet been named. Warren has ruled out Fury fighting Andy Ruiz Junior, the boxer who dethroned Joshua as world champion in 2019 before losing the rematch later that year.
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