Anthony Joshua showed vulnerability in his comeback, despite a second-round knockout of Kristian Prenga, and now four-time super-middleweight world champion Carl Froch has shared his thoughts on how the showdown with Tyson Fury will play out.

Prior to Prenga, Joshua’s solitary outing since a devastating September 2024 defeat to Daniel Dubois came against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, with the 36-year-old maintaining that he needed a tune-up before a long-awaited clash against Fury.

Lesser-known Albanian heavyweight Prenga almost scuppered plans to stage Fury-Joshua later this year, as he twice floored the two-time heavyweight world champion in the opening round, before ‘AJ’ bounced back and claimed a round two triumph. 

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Froch on Fighting, ‘The Cobra’ explained why he believes Fury will now ‘do a number’ on his perennial foe.

“Fury looked bad, but don’t forget that Fury has been fighting since he was five years old. It’s in his subconscious; reactions, reflexes and punching, he just knows how to do it when his eyes are shut. He has grown up with it. 

“Joshua is a manufactured fighter. OK, he is an Olympic gold medallist and a two-time heavyweight champ but, in terms of naturally ability and natural fighting, Tyson will do a number on ‘AJ’, in my opinion.

“Even though Tyson Fury is past his best now and not firing on all cylinders, like he was against Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua can’t take a punch and he can’t get out of the way of the punches. It is just dangerous.”

Fury-Joshua is expected to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York, with Saturday, November 14, understood to be the most likely fight date.