Eddie Hearn, promoter of Anthony Joshua, doesn’t believe that Tyson Fury needs a warm up bout before taking on his charge in November.
Fury came back to outpoint Arslanbek Makhmudov over 12 rounds in April. It was Fury’s first fight since twice losing to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024. Joshua, meanwhile, knocked out Jake Paul in six rounds in December. That marked his first action since being stopped by Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
After Fury’s victory, he called out Joshua, who was sitting ringside. Joshua, though, insisted he needed more time. Following the victory over Paul, Joshua was involved in a car crash that killed two of his best friends and left the former heavyweight champion needed months’ of treatment to get over his own injuries.
Joshua will face the unfancied Kristian Prenga, an Albanian based in New Jersey, on July 25 in Saudi Arabia. Fury was expected to confirm his warm-up bout last week after announcing on social media he would be fighting in Dublin on August 1. A further announcement has not been forthcoming, however.
“[Fury] said to us, ‘You don’t need another fight’. We had four [actually five and a half] rounds with Jake Paul, in two years of boxing’,” Hearn told Sky Sports.
“Come on, you have 12 rounds with Makhmudov at Tottenham. But you still feel like you need more rounds to prepare yourself for Anthony Joshua? I tell you something now. More rounds ain’t going to help you.
“When I saw Makhmudov in that fight, I just know what ‘AJ’ is going to do to him. If we keep this confidence, if we can go in there and put a great performance together on July 25, we go into that Tyson Fury fight with so much momentum. This will be a major moment for the sport but July 25th has to be done.”
