Joshua shares mindset before Fury showdown

File photo: British-Nigerian heavyweight boxer, Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua says his experience against Kristian Prenga in July opened his eyes. He plans to go for an early knockout against Tyson Fury when they fight in Cardiff on December 11.

The two heavyweights will meet at the Principality Stadium. The match will be streamed on Netflix as part of a Ring show. This fight has been building for ten years, but it nearly fell apart several times during talks.

Joshua, who has a record of 30 wins and 4 losses with 27 knockouts, was knocked down twice in the first round by Prenga on July 25 in Saudi Arabia. Prenga hit him with a right uppercut in the first 20 seconds. Joshua went down again near the end of that round.

He managed to recover and stopped Prenga in the second round with a combination that ended with a right hand. This was his first fight since he survived a serious car crash in December.

The night before, Fury, who has a record of 36 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw with 25 knockouts, had stopped Mariusz Wach in Thailand.

Joshua spoke to The Ring’s Mike Coppinger and said the Prenga fight changed his mindset.

“The Prenga fight woke me up. It made me realise my motto that boxing is not a sport. Boxing is a fight; never lose sight of that,” he said.

“Strategy is cool, but let me tell you something. At that moment, you have to be ready for anything. And with what happened to me when I fought Prenga, it just switched me on to realise, if I can do what I do in round two in round one, I could have done it way earlier.”

He explained that he went into the fight trying to wear Prenga down.

“I was watching a lot of Terence Crawford and Shakur Stevenson, and I was really like, you have got to practise your defence. But in heavyweight boxing, your best defence is your offence.

“I cannot go in there thinking I am going to break this fighter down over the course of the rounds. I am going to take you out in round one if I can,” Joshua said.

Not many people think Joshua would survive a similar start against Fury. Fury fights at a different level compared to Prenga and would likely take advantage of any mistakes. The fight is for the vacant WBA 'super' heavyweight title.