Anthony Joshua DOESN'T HOLD BACK On Tyson Fury... | Mr Verzace Podcast | EP.25

Anthony Joshua spoke to Rick Reeno on the Mr Verzace podcast ahead of his fight with Kristian Prenga on July 25th, which looks to set up a mouthwatering fight with Tyson Fury later on in the year.

Transcript

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Welcome back to the Mr. Versace podcast. I'm your host, Mr. Versace himself, Rick Reno, and returning to the podcast once again, former two-time unified world heavyweight champion AJ himself, Anthony Joshua. He returns to the ring on July the 25th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, against the Albanian knockout artist Christian Pranga, live and exclusive on the zone. Now, the last time we sat down, AJ, it was in Miami, a few days away from the Jake Paul fight. And, you know, some people wouldn't exactly call Jake Paul a significant opponent, but there's no disputing it was a significant event. Oh, significant. Your team leading into that, Eddie, people be smart people behind you said this thing is gonna raise AJ's profile to the next level. And based on the eyeballs on that fight, do you did you feel that afterwards? Your profile just go boom. They wasn't wrong. It went boom. I think a lot more eyes was able to see me. I did say to some of my friends, I was like, as well, I taken a year out, so I'd had to shake off some cobwebs. So a lot of people just saw the light coming back out of me because you know, through life, uh through our sport, you get to see where people are at mentally, where they're at in their life. So even though I was performing on the biggest stage, we're going through things in our personal life. So taking that year out, I'd come back to Miami on the biggest stage, and people could see that light, that vibrant energy. Regardless of Jake Paul, a lot of people said that's the guy we knew, and it felt good to be back on the big stage. So uh just to finish, credit to Jake Paul and his team. Great opportunity. I'm grateful. I understand the business, I understand the game. He gave me a chance to work, and I definitely delivered. Now, you know, there were some critics afterwards, you saw them. Why didn't he push him out in one round, two rounds? But people who've never been in the ring don't understand. And people that have been in the ring, though, Rick. Yeah. And how hard it is to knock someone out when they're running away from you. Now, let's say this. We say how hard it is, but I always say, no matter if they move around and they run around, I'm that good. I should be able to knock him out in a round, right? It doesn't matter that he's running around. Someone will say, well, just cut the ring off, just do this. And that's what we should be doing. However, I knew that if I throw a barrage of punches in my mind, and I go in there and the referee waves the fight off after 30 seconds or two to three rounds, I don't think it would have been satisfying. There was a strict message that was given and a task that was laid upon me, and that was to get rid of Jake Paul and remove him from our beloved sport, which is boxing. Whether that took me one round, whether that took me six rounds, I believe the job was well and truly done. Well, it seems like anytime a guy dips his toe into the sport against Anthony Joshua. Yeah, you make them rethink their career. And Ganu said, you know, maybe this boxing stuff, maybe I'll go back to MMA. Believe me, I was thinking, why don't I step over into one of their territories? Because they keep on coming over our territory. Obviously, this is big business, it's big boxing, it's heavyweight boxing. You are talking about the best in their chosen field, yeah, MMA, kickboxing. These aren't amateurs, these are actually experienced fighters, but it would be good if one of us went into that side and we see how we get on over there. The only problem is the uh dollar signs aren't aren't the same on the other side. That's why they're coming over to our side. Okay, so even if, let's say Anthony Joshua, speaking of third person, was to cross over into MMA, it wouldn't be as big as them coming over into boxing. Boxing is just the pinnacle of combat sport, right? Well, yeah, but if you went over, you wouldn't face one of these ham and eggers. You'd want a guy with some name value. 100%. So that means it's big business then. MMA, kickboxing, or boxing. It can be done. I believe it should be done. I think that would be the next thing that we want to see. See, the only the only thing when I think about that is similar to when I remember James Tony crossed over and he went with Randy Couture. And all Randy Couture did would just take him down immediately and kept him on the ground. Yeah. But I don't think James was as conditioned as he could have been for that fight. No, and he was already up up, you know, up in age, and yeah, and it was a reason he took you know a guy like Randy Couture because you know, like you lose to a guy like Randy Couture, you're supposed to lose to a guy at the bottom of the UFC field who looks a little worse. So there's been a case study where someone like James has crossed over into yeah, there has been actually. But I was thinking about it. Those guys keep on coming over into our territory. It'll be interesting to see who the first one will be to cross over into their territory. Well, Clarissa Shields tried. She done well. Did she win that fight? She, I think, won her first, lost her second, if I remember correctly. Okay, okay. Carissa Shields is a phenomenal fighter as well, a real character in and out of the ring. But it's similar. I think the the opponent, if I remember the fight, I remember watching it, kept taking her down. They're not going to stand on their feet. They know what to do. Yeah. Back in April, you were ringside for Tyson Fury's report. I was right. I was. And after the smoke had cleared, he was urging you, just almost pleading with you to get in the ring. I guess he wanted a face-off of some kind. You were pretty respectful, so this is your moment. That's his moment. Then he started calling you a shit house. Were you tempted at all when he was egging you on? Okay, he wants me to go in there. I'll go in there. Rick, I feel in control of my emotions, in control of how I want to control myself. Yeah. And I knew at the time it wasn't the right thing for me to do. Yeah. Even though the bodies at be, Netflix, uh, his excellency, the zone, promoters, TV wanted me to get in the ring. I just knew from my own standing it wasn't the right thing to do. And behind the scenes, when it comes to negotiating, it actually worked in my favour because number one, there was nothing in place for me to stay up in the ring and say, Yeah, we're gonna get it on next, because that was not the truth. I'm not here to lie to anyone. I'm not here for hype. I was there on a scouting mission. I wanted to see this is the guy that I want to fight, right? So I was there to kind of see what was gonna happen, how he performed, and I saw some good stuff, and I also saw some bad stuff. So that's what I was there for. So to ask me to get into the ring was not part of my plan, and I don't think anyone could pull me in the direction that I'm not planning on going in life no more. I'm I'm a lot older, a lot wiser, and a lot more comfortable in the position I'm in. Now, in saying that, obviously you were on a scouting mission, you saw some good things and some bad things. How do you think he did overall compared to how you've seen him in the past? Well, we have to take into consideration he had a long time out of the ring. Yeah. But we also have to take into consideration uh the opponent wasn't brought forward to challenge theory. Yeah, the scales are weighed in his favour. But I think he'll rise to the occasion depending on the opponent. So for Prenga, uh not Prenger, so for Arsenal Makmudoff, that's the right way to pronounce it, right? Uh I would have preferred to have seen a stoppage because I always believe if I'm watching from a fan's point of view, I just like to see someone flatlined on the floor because it shows greatness in the guy. You know, when you you chop the king's head off, I wanted to see that, and I just didn't see that that day. He went uh a good 12 rounds, but the positive in that was just to show he was conditioned. But I just think you you you really want to take these guys out, and I didn't really see any intent at any moment to try and hurt Arsenal Mathmadov. Um, and yeah, Arsenal gave him a few problems here and there, but three controlled the rounds. In short, it was it was it was good, it was okay, it was okay. Now, speaking of guys crossing over, yeah, uh seems like it was just the other day. Me and you at ringside in Egypt watching Alexander Usik and Rico, yeah, uh, who crossed over both of us with our mouths open, watching what was going on in the ring. What's your take now that uh everything is ended there? And what do you take away from that unbelievable outcome? I feel I feel sorry for Rico and I feel sorry for Use. Let's start with Rico. You know, a man that dared to be great, the odds were stacked against him. When you're not expected to do much, but you do more than what's expected of you, it's a moral victory. And I believe he gained a lot of uh support, I believe he gained the moral victory even though he didn't get the decision. And Alexander Usick, I I thought he was doing well. The scorecards were close, of course. But Alexander Usik done what he does, which is turn the heat up in the later rounds. And whether it was round 10, 11, or 12, I think he would have done what was needed to remain champion, he just has it in him. That's what I've seen when I've been in the ring with him personally. That's what I've seen when I've watched him from the outside. He knows how to like turn the heat up in the later rounds where most heavyweights will fade, and that's what he'd done with Rico. But it showed me as well that it's quite a fickle sport, and you have to do it for self because why are people complaining about Alexander? He did not stop the fight himself, he'd done what the fighter was supposed to do. It was a referee. So we need to look at the referee's decision, and uh we need to let Alexander enjoy his victory because the referee had done what he was supposed to do, and that was either let the fight continue or stop it, and he decided to stop it, and that's his job. That's why I always say sometimes as a heavyweight, if I was to train a fighter, I would say don't ever leave it in the hands of the judges. Yeah, go in there and dismantle and knock your opponent clean out because I don't want any controversy. That's what I'm gonna tell my fighter, I don't want any controversy. So when you said Ms. At the ring, you go in there to flatline them. Now, as a fight fan yourself, because you are a fan of the sport, do you think he should do the rematch next? Or do you think Cat Bayell should finally get his shot? Well me to speak with my manager as a fight fan, yeah? Yeah, wow, both phenomenal options, aren't they? Both really, really good options as a fight fan, respectfully, not as a fight historian, as a fight fan that came into the game after Andy Joshua fought Jake Paul. I want to see Rico versus Usik again. Because you know the criticism will be Cabayel's exactly he got stepped over by an unranked guy, now he's getting stepped over again. If I am putting on my historian hat and my legacy hat, 100% Cavael is the fight through and through. But as I said, just that rematch, you know how big rematches are. They got a storyline, they've got history, Egypt, the stoppage. Usik was apparently losing on the scorecards. There's a backstory, so it's like we're already building on foundations that have already been cemented. Ajit Cabayel and Usik is still a massive fight. I like the way Ajit's calling him out. But as I said, from a fan, a pure fan point of view, I think the rematch would just be amazing. See, the way I look at things from a business point of view is if you lose to Rico, you could forget about Cabayel. If you lose to Cabayel, you could still do Rico. That's a good point. But that's a but where do you think about winning? Yeah. But I but I look at it from you know how which one generates more money? It's hard to say. I think Rico, the rematch, because of the attention that'll be on that fight. That's why I think it will be massive because of the attention that it will it will bring to the table. Rico's a big player in in kickboxing, yeah. And he announced himself in the heavyweight division. Usik's a big player in the boxing environment. I just think from a fan's perspective, it will be good to see. But from a pure boxing point of view, gadget. And you were originally slated to fight, Rico. When you were watching it, were you watching that fight a little bit with almost like calculating I I see the openings of what I would do with this guy? Yeah. I could see what he was doing. I could see certain places where he was better than I expected. I could see certain things that I would try and exploit. I think there were times where look, there's times that opponents give you opportunities to hit them and a second phase and maybe a third phase again. And if you keep on applying that type of pressure, I think a fighter can crumble. Uh and I could see that. I think I think Nganu is probably a bit more of a polished boxer. You know, he's a bit more you know, sturdy in his stance, and not I'm referencing them too because they're from different backgrounds, but I I was gonna fight Rico, and I think I obviously I got the the win with Ngani, but I think Ngani, if I would have let him, would have given me more problems because Rico is he's unorthodox, he's not a tradition, he's very unorthodox, but I think that would have worked in my favour. And I think if they rematch, I think it'll work in Usik's favour because he's got that data. But Rico, man, he he done well, he done his thing. He he he surprised me. Surprised uh a lot of people. And speaking of kickboxers, your next opponent is a European kickboxing champion. Transition, yeah, two times transition to boxing. Yeah, very with these kickboxes, and Rick, huh? Vitaliklitschka was a kickboxer. What is it with these kickboxes? Have you seen any footage yet of Prenga? Or did you even hear of him before this fight was announced? Yeah, I knew of Prenga before this fight was announced, even though I had my eyes elsewhere. The headweight division is the heavyweight division, everything's on box rec, everything's online. And uh he has a good record. Uh, but my eyes have been on him more. You know, I'm at a stage in my life where I am fully focused on my sport. I went I've done a lot, man. I've done a lot in boxing and I've tried to branch out into different avenues. I've used boxing as a as a solid foundation to do a lot of things outside of the game, but I'm just fully focused on boxing again. And I've been spending time looking at Prenga, studying him, and I know a lot about him, and in my own way, my own perception, I've understood his psyche a bit better now. I'm looking forward to the competition. Because he uh he'd actually him and his manager told me earlier, which I didn't know, that he's good friends with Rico. Yeah. So he uh got a little bit of inspiration, I guess, from watching how he performed with Usik. Um what do you think of his style? You know, because a lot of people obviously overlook him because he's never faced anyone on a world class level, although we know he can punch. We don't know how well he could do with a world class guy, but one thing we know, he's got some firepower in his hands and he's a big guy. Yeah, I see him. Big guy, he's looking in shape, and I think more so than that, because any fighter can come to the ring looking in shape, it's what it means to him. It's kind of the same as um, it's kind of the same as uh Rico, what it meant to him to fight Alexander Usick, it wasn't just about being prepared physically, it was also what it meant to him mentally. His mum passing away, unfortunately. Rest in peace to his mum, that's tough to deal with. So for Prenga, it's not just coming in shape and having a big right hand, it probably means a lot to him to get this victory. Um, so I've got to be on my P's and Q's and make sure I'm fully focused on him and not underestimate him. Now, without looking too far ahead, some people have labeled you and Fury as the defining fight of this era of heavyweights. Do you view it as the defining fight of this era of heavyweights? No, because there's a lot more fights to happen, a lot more big fights. It's one of the defining fights of this era because with me and Fury, it can't be the only one. Because I know if I stay around long enough, there's rematch with Dubois, there's a potential Fabio fight, there's Adjitt fight out there, um, providing he becomes champion, like how big that would be. There's uh a tarma fight as he's coming up the rankings, there's still the wilder fight out there. These are gonna be massive fights. So Fury's just another number, and I'm trying to say I don't put him on no pedal stool. He ain't above no one. They're all all in my way, all on the same level. I'm not putting him above no one. Have you seen enough of guys like you're speaking of Cabayel or Moses? People labeled them as the future of the division. Do you feel that they've done enough for what you've seen to be to earn that label as the future of the division? Well, with who? Moses? Well, yeah, like Moses, Cabayel, this new flock that's come around. Uh Cabayel's not new. Well, in the in the he's been around. I first saw him when he upset Derek years ago. Yeah. But he's got potential to reign supreme as a heavyweight. He has still has. We haven't seen any vulnerability. We have I know when he fought um Zhang, probably when he got dropped. For example, he fought um the other Southpaw. Uh, what's his name? Mahmoud. He put him away. He fought another Southpaw who put him down. It was honestly a really good fight, and he came through, kind of like Zhang. Um, he got up and came through. What I'm trying to say, Frank Sanchez. He he you saw what Frank Sanchez just did, and Cambayo put him away. So, what we're saying is, even though he's been around for a long time, the difference is when you become champion, that bullseye is on your back, and it's a lot. And you can see it now with Usik, the bullseye is on his back because people are waiting for a little sign of vulnerability. So the question is, they all have potential. Adjitt has potential because he hasn't shown it yet. We want to see him become champion, to see him live up to the expectations that we have of him. Moses has that potential, you know, he's a great young talent coming up. Uh, but we want to see when that bullseye is on your back, are you able to deal with the pressure that comes with being the person that we believe you can be? And I think we I think you can see that Ajit is ready because he is calling for it. Yeah, I think Moses will be ready in his own time. I think talent-wise, he's very good, very promising. But give the guy some time to develop because let me tell you this, yeah. I become champion in my 16th fight. Once you cross over, there's no turning back. You are marked, and people are not you are not the one studying, people are studying you. Trust me. So, you know, Adjust's been around for a long time and he's ready now, you know, and I can't wait to see. I think he'll be able to deal with that bullseye on his back. Moses, give him some time. Let him let him develop. That's my opinion. That's a manager's hat on. Let him develop because what I like about Moses, yeah, is uh when I look back at when I started, uh, he has a lot more, he's a lot more polished. You know what I mean? Kitting with feints and up and down and counter shots. When I first started, it was raw. You can see my progression as I've moved up the ranks. Moses is showing talent from day one. So he has that. Now it's just the pressure. When that bullseye is on your back, people want your soul, they talk about your characteristics, they talk about what you wear. That's a whole different kind of pressure, and we want to see how you deal with that. That's a whole different kind of pressure in heavyweight division. Now, you've said since you came back that you want to become a three-time heavyweight division. I will be, I will be. I will be. If you get the big win over Fury but don't win another title, would that be satisfying enough, or do you need that other title? I need I need another title. I need another title, man. This is what I do. This is I made a decision to myself. This is my purpose. This is what I uh I'm talented, I'm quite smart, I can do a lot of things. But I'm gonna use all my energy and align my focus to just being champion again. I spread my focus a bit over the years, and I've just had to really spend time re-channeling my focus, and I know I can do it. I know. Remember, I started boxing and I was able to move up the ranks pretty quick because I when I when I'd make a decision, when I locked things off my in my life, which I did when I was younger, I said, yo, that's enough. I'm getting rid of that and prioritizing this. I can do a lot, and um, I've done it again, and uh, I believe that will be my recipe for success. And in closing, yeah, you got a dangerous knockout artist in front of you. So is he well what can people expect? So is so is he. What can people expect? Do you know what I'm saying, right? Yeah, it it does work both ways. It works both ways. Good luck to him. July the 25th. Do you expect this fight to be able to do it? It won't go for it. Yeah, it has to. Do you know why? Because it's just what we do, it's what what's expected of us, it's what's expected of us, it's what we do, and it's what we're capable of doing. It's not a surprise to do what is already ordained upon me as a heavyweight to her, to knock people out. I'm gonna do my best, trust me. I'm gonna do my best. And um, I believe in myself. And it's nothing against him. That's what this is about me. I believe in myself, and I don't think it will go 12 rounds because we're just we're both good. We both have knockout power. And you heard it from AJ. Expect a knockout performance July the 25th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, against the Albanian knockout artist Prenga, live and exclusive on the zone. Thank you, Ray. Thanks.