Veteran boxing promoter Frank Warren has warned Anthony Joshua that defeat by Kristian Prenga would “kill” plans for a long-awaited clash against fellow British former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
It was announced on Monday that Fury and Joshua would meet later this year following several false starts — years after they were both at their peak.
Warren, whose Queensberry group has promoted several of Fury’s bouts, wants the proposed fight to take place at London’s Wembley Stadium.
But he warned on Wednesday that the fight would only take place if Joshua got past Albania’s Prenga in Saudi Arabia on July 25.
“If he loses to this guy (Prenga), it kills the (Fury) fight,” Warren told the BBC.
As for whether Fury would want another fight before facing Joshua, he said: “Tyson wants to keep busy. That’s the mentality he has.
“When he’s in the gym, he goes to the gym for his mental wellbeing, as well as physically.
“He needs focus, a date when he’s going to fight and at the moment we don’t have that date (for Joshua).”
Joshua’s bout against Prenga will be his first since he was involved in a car crash in Nigeria in December that killed two of his friends.
