Anthony Joshua had no interest in discussing Tyson Fury during his final press conference with Kristian Prenga.
Joshua faces Prenga in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night with a blockbuster meeting against Fury, who also fights this week, on the horizon if both come out victorious.
The British heavyweight titans have been intrinsically linked for years and are now within touching distance of settling their differences.
However, Fury has consistently downplayed the clash this week, admitting he’ll jet home after taking on Mariusz Wach in Thailand rather than fly to Jeddah for Joshua vs Prenga.
‘The Gypsy King’ also brought up Joshua refusing to enter the ring after he defeated Arslanbek Makhmudov last time out — something ‘AJ’ put down to the contract not being signed at the time.
‘We don’t want to talk about Tyson Fury’
Joshua met Prenga at Jeddah Promenade in Saudi Arabia on Thursday and was asked by host Jamie Ward for a quick word on Fury before wrapping up proceedings.
Joshua chimed in, saying: “No, no, no.
“I have to respect my opponent over there. We don’t want to talk about Tyson Fury, respectfully.
“I’ve done all the media that I can about what the future holds, but our focus is him and his team, respectfully.”
Pressed on if he’s bothered about whether Fury is ringside or not, Joshua joked: “A professional journalist — don’t care what I have to say but still wants to get his question across!
“I understand, but let’s focus on what the job is. Look, anyone can be there Saturday.
“The more tickets sold, the better. But we’re in the ring. It’s just me and him and that’s where my focus is.”
5
Joshua: No future unless I defeat Prenga
Joshua is returning to the ring for the first time since his involvement in a tragic car crash that killed close friends Sina Ghami and Kevin Ayodele.
He told talkSPORT in an interview this week that it still ‘hurts’ to think about the incident, but he is using the memories of Ghami and Ayodele as key motivation.
The 36-year-old blasted out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in six rounds last time out — ten days before the crash just outside of Lagos, Nigeria.
He’s been preparing for Prenga since January alongside former undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in a camp in Valencia, Spain, which forced him to ‘drop his ego’ from the off.
Joshua said he is ‘fully focused’ on simply fighting Prenga but understands ‘there’s a big picture.’
“The goal is to conquer the universe, right? But first of all I must conquer the earth,” he added.
5
“It’s a great opportunity for me to understand where this checkpoint leads to.
“Ultimately, the reality of the matter is there is no universe, there is no future unless I get past this checkpoint on Saturday night.”
Prenga promises KO
A confident Prenga said he hopes ‘to show the world who I am’ when he fights Joshua as a massive underdog on Saturday.
Asked how he plans to finish the Watford man, the Albanian simply responded: “Knockout.”
He continued: “Every boxer has weaknesses and falls in the ring no matter who you are.
“I respect Anthony Joshua very much. I’ve seen his weakness. I’ve seen what he does best.
5
5
“On Saturday night I’ll show exactly what I’ve been paying attention to.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn said Joshua has been working ‘like I’ve never seen before’ and labelled his comeback ‘phenomenal.’
“We chose Prenga for a reason because he’s a real challenge,” Hearn said.
“He gets to swim with the big boys on Saturday and we get to find out if he needs armbands or not.”
talkSPORT is on the ground in Jeddah to bring you all the latest from a busy fight week.
You can join talkSPORT’s watch-along from ringside at Joshua vs Prenga on Saturday from 7pm on the talkSPORT Boxing YouTube channel.
Watch Boxing on DAZN
*If you click a link in this boxout, we will earn affiliate revenue
Sign up to DAZN to access the definitive subscription for boxing fans.
Upgrade to DAZN Ultimate from just £24.99/month, guaranteeing access to 185+ fights annually, a minimum of 12 pay-per-views at no extra cost, as well as every Lega Serie A match and other elite football access.
Alternatively, DAZN Standard is just £15.99/month, with the caveat you will have to pay for pay-per-view events.
