Hearn said the arrogance behind the scenes has been way more aggressive than the respectful tone Prenga’s side has shown publicly.
“They’ve at all times said to me, cancel the Fury fight. Cancel the Fury fight. And I said to them, they’re quite respectful people. They arrive and say, ‘We include nothing but respect.’ I said, ‘No, no, don’t include respect. Include beef.’ If you happen to consider this, tell us. Don’t stand up there on the press and go, ‘Oh, I actually respect what AJ’s achieved.’ Tell us, cancel the Tyson Fury fight because I’m going to knock you out and spoil the largest fight in British boxing history.”
Joshua returns on July 25 on the Jeddah Superdome after a lengthy layoff that followed injury and a automotive accident. A fight with Fury is anticipated later this 12 months if each men handle their business first.
Prenga has never fought anyone near Joshua’s level, but Joshua enters the bout with more questions than answers. He’s coming back from a serious automotive crash and has not faced a top heavyweight since his knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in 2024.
Hearn suggested Prenga’s camp genuinely believes Joshua is vulnerable heading into his comeback.
“Lots of people take a look at the fight with AJ, and so they get this fake belief. I consider he thinks he can win, but they get this of their head that AJ’s not the fighter he was, especially coming off the layoff, coming off the injury, and the crash. These guys truly consider they’ll are available.”
The Matchroom chairman also revealed the extent of intensity he’s seeing from Joshua ahead of the fight, insisting there is no such thing as a danger of his fighter overlooking Prenga due to attention surrounding Fury.
“AJ’s going into this fight with the mentality to tear him to shreds, to completely punish and pulverize him to a pulp on July twenty fifth. There is no such thing as a friendly friendly. I’ve never seen AJ with this sort of aggression going right into a fight.”
The Fury fight stays the main attraction on the heavyweight calendar, but Prenga’s team is openly talking as if it should never occur.
Prenga’s camp could also be badly overestimating its possibilities. What stands out is that they feel comfortable saying the Fury fight might never occur. Just a few years ago, no person would have dared.