Prenga says car crash tragedy will 'definitely' affect rival Joshua
Kristian Prenga expects Anthony Joshua to carry the psychological scars of his recent personal tragedy when they meet in Jeddah on July 25.
Joshua is scheduled to face the little-known Albanian next month knowing that a victory will almost certainly set up the long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury this winter.
Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs), of course, has designs on spoiling that plan completely when he gets the chance to transform his career with the unlikeliest of victories.
And the 35-year-old 17/1 shot believes his chances of pulling off the upset have been enhanced by Joshua’s involvement in the fatal road accident which claimed the lives of his friends Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami in December.
Prenga said: “I feel sorry for him and for his team but it’s definitely going to affect him. I think it’s an advantage for me.”
The New Jersey-based puncher, who has won all his fights by knockout, had been preparing for a fight on the first weekend of this month when the call came about an offer for an altogether bigger proposition. He did not hesitate to accept.
“I was already in camp because I was preparing to fight on June 6 at Prudential Center in New Jersey,” he explained. “I wasn’t surprised to get the call because I’ve been waiting for the big fight to come. Even so, when it came, I couldn't believe it at first, but it happened.
“I was in the gym when the phone rang, it was my manager Keith Connolly, he said ‘you have a big opportunity.' So I said ‘what’s going on?’ He just said ‘AJ is calling.’ I just said ‘let’s go.' It’s my time now. My coaches said I’m ready to go now.”
His manager Connolly, the man on the other end of the phone that day, added: “That conversation lasted about 30 seconds. He said 'I’m walking into the gym, I have to train, I’ll take the fight.' That was the end of the conversation. I didn’t discuss purses, I didn’t discuss location or when. This man is filled with an abundance of confidence.”
Prenga says that confidence grew when he first met Joshua in person at the London launch press conference on June 1. Having watched the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and two-time world heavyweight champion for years, he had expected a more imposing individual.
But he said: “I’ve seen everything he has done through the years. I know him well because I’ve watched him from the first fight. But this is the first time I’ve met him in person. I feel nothing. I think he’s smaller than I expected. I thought he was going to be bigger.”
Joshua’s last fight was his sixth-round stoppage of Jake Paul in Miami on December 19. That victory, which took a lot longer than many expected, was the Englishman’s first outing since he was emphatically stopped by compatriot Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium 15 months earlier.
With he and Fury both undertaking so called “warm-up fights” this summer, Joshua knows a win against Prenga will hold up his side of that deal.
“Going from Jake Paul to me is like going from 0-100, brother,” Prenga said. “I think he has said that this is a warm-up fight because he wants to fight Tyson Fury but this is not going to happen. "This will cancel the fight with Tyson Fury.”
