Prenga’s manager, Keith Sullivan, claimed Matchroom had badly misjudged the threat posed by the Albanian heavyweight.

“What they have in Kristian Prenga is a live dog who’s coming for it all,” said Sullivan. “I’m sort of shocked that they made this level of a miscalculation. I really am.”

Sullivan went even further, predicting Joshua’s team would regret the decision.

“On July 26, you’ll have a new prized possession. His name will be Kristian Prenga because he’s winning on July 25th,” he said.

When Joshua was asked about the comments, he fired back with a warning of his own.

“These guys, they just dig a grave. The grave’s already been dug, but they keep digging deeper and deeper and deeper,” Joshua said.

The “digging a grave” comment shows that Prenga’s manager actually got under AJ’s skin. It is like Joshua wants the fierce competition, but he still expects an underlying level of reverence for what he has achieved in the sport. When he does not get it, the polite mask slips a little bit, and you see that irritation boil over.

A truly unshakeable elite heavyweight would just chuckle, look at Prenga’s manager, and shrug it off as standard pre-fight hype. Instead, Joshua internalizes it.

Ever since the Ruiz defeat, and definitely after getting stopped by Daniel Dubois, that corporate, totally secure image has had some major cracks in it. He wants to be seen as the wise elder statesman of the division, training with Usyk’s team and talking about the sweet science, but his skin is still incredibly thin.

When Prenga’s team implies he is an easy touch or a “miscalculation,” it hits a raw nerve because it taps into the exact narrative he is trying to fight off. He cannot just let it slide. He feels compelled to fire back with a dark warning to prove he is still the big bad wolf, even while simultaneously claiming he wants Prenga to bring that exact same energy. It is a total clash between the cool persona he wants to project and the hyper-sensitive ego that actually runs the show.