Anthony Joshua isn’t eyeing the exit anymore. He’s talking about three more years.
A year ago, the plan was a couple of fights and a happy retirement. Not now. According to Matchroom founder Barry Hearn, father of Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, AJ’s outlook has completely shifted ahead of his return against Kristian Prenga in Jeddah on Saturday.
He is in an amazing place at the moment. Some of that has been fuelled by that tragic accident, but he’s now talking about the next three years in the ring. I mean, it was a year ago we were talking about potentially two fights and then go off to a happy retirement.
The tragedy Hearn referenced came days after Joshua stopped Jake Paul in Miami last December, when a car crash in Nigeria killed two of the fighter’s close friends. Hearn says the loss has helped drive a renewed sense of purpose, even as he preached caution.
He is very motivated, he feels good about himself but boxing is a funny sport. It takes one decent punch from a big lad to knock out anyone in the world, so you have got to be on your toes all the time.
Joshua, 29-4 (26 KOs), faces little-known Albanian Kristian Prenga, 20-1 (20 KOs), in what amounts to a tune-up, his first fight since the Paul win. The real target is a long-awaited all-British showdown with Tyson Fury later in 2026, once framed as Joshua’s storybook send-off. If he’s now thinking three more years, that sail into the sunset may be on hold.
