Don’t Mess This Up, Fury and Joshua
If boxing had a wishlist, Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua would be at the top of it.
Labelled by BBC as “the defining figures of British heavyweight boxing” for over a decade, Fury and Joshua have long been building toward one of the biggest fights of this century. But it’s one thing to set the plates and it’s another thing to serve the damn dinner.
Before anyone could say “Bon appétit” (or, as the British would say, “Tuck in”), things happened and the Fury vs. Joshua clash was off the menu. Negotiations collapsed, mandatory challengers got in the way, and a U.S. judge even got involved. Throw in the personal circumstances that both men have gone through, and you have the perfect recipe for yet another “what if” fight that never got to sizzle.
Yet, against heavy odds, Fury and Joshua put pen to paper and finally signed a deal to make their fight official. No less than Turki Alalshikh, head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, announced this in late April.
Now, only one hurdle remains before the blockbuster showdown rumored for later this year: survive this weekend.
Joshua and Fury Face One More Test
In the case of Joshua, he’ll be stepping into the ring against Kristian Prenga, an Albanian knockout artist who has picked up all 20 of his professional wins by KO. The only loss of Prenga’s career came in 2017, so Joshua will be squaring off against an opponent who’s been undefeated for close to a decade.
As daunting as Prenga is, his haymakers are not the biggest red flag for Joshua this weekend in Saudi. What everyone’s really asking is: Has Joshua fully recovered from the harrowing events of December 29, 2025?
On that day, AJ figured in a car crash on an expressway in Nigeria. While Joshua suffered minor injuries, the accident claimed the lives of two people that he was in the car with: his strength and conditioning coach Sina Ghami and his personal trainer Latif Ayodele.
“You never overcome it, but you gain perspective in life,” Joshua later said. “Life is humbling at times. You never know one’s fate.”
Mortality crosses the minds of athletes more often than they’d like to admit. In the case of Fury, he’s had to come to terms with the finite nature of his career on multiple occasions. ESPN, in fact, has counted as many as five times that the Gypsy King has announced his retirement from the sport.
The reasons: mood swings, an anti-doping charge here and there, a feeling of fulfillment, and back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk. In 2016—one of the lowest points of his life—Fury was far, far away from the squared circle as he battled depression and substance abuse.
But, like a classic boxing story, Fury got up from the mat of adversity. By clinging to his faith, seeking professional help, and committing to a rigorous fitness regime, he overcame the dark times that hounded him in the mid-2010s and started a new chapter (or, indeed, chapters) in his career.
“It’s a bigger achievement than people will ever know, because nobody really knows how far gone I really was,” Fury told ESPN in 2022.
This year, Fury has sprung back to action, bouncing back from consecutive losses to Usyk in 2024 by defeating Russian slugger Arslanbek Makhmudov in April. Just three months later, Fury is staying busy by taking on Mariusz Wach—a 46-year-old Polish veteran—at the Max Muay Thai Stadium in Pattaya, Thailand.
One Win Away From the Main Event
24 hours is all that separates this Fury tune-up from Joshua’s stay-busy fight. For the boxing community, only one outcome is acceptable: Both Fury and Joshua need to win.
If this happens, the path forward is clear. With the appetizers out of the way, the main course can come in piping hot. In one corner, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and former unified champion returning after months marked by grief and uncertainty. In the other corner, a highly decorated heavyweight whose career has been defined by reinvention and resilience.
If this doesn’t happen…I can’t even bear to type it.
Don’t mess this up, AJ. Don’t mess this up, Gypsy King. The table is set. Let fight fans finally eat.
Catch Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga live on DAZN this Sunday (Manila time). As per Sports Illustrated, the main card is scheduled to begin at 1:00 a.m. Ringwalk for the Joshua vs. Prenga main event is projected to start at 5:50 a.m.
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