Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua could both retire after they finally fight this year, says heavyweight rival Dillian Whyte
Anthony Joshua resumed his career too early says old rival Dillian Whyte after the former world heavyweight champion suffered a massive scare against Kristian Prenga; Joshua was floored twice before stopping Prenga in the second round; Fury and Joshua are set to finally fight in November
Monday 27 July 2026 19:22, UK
Dillian Whyte believes Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua could both retire after their long-awaited fight this year.
Fury and Joshua are expected to finally share the ring in November after they both emerged victorious from their warm-up fights, with America now the likely location for the British heavyweight blockbuster.
But the Brit rivals appear to be in the closing chapters of their careers as Joshua climbed off the canvas twice before stopping Kristian Prenga in the second round, while Fury selected the 46-year-old Mariusz Wach as his opponent before securing a seventh-round stoppage.
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Whyte, who has fought both Fury and Joshua, told Sky Sports: "It's hard to say [who will win] because the boxing pugilists will pick Tyson Fury and the hardcore boxing fans will pick Anthony Joshua because AJ's got power and Tyson Fury's feet have slowed down, so I'll say Fury on points [or] AJ by stoppage.
"Potentially, both men could hang up their gloves after the fight. When it's done, they might say, listen, we've done everything, Tyson's won all the belts, AJ's been a unified world champion, they might just say, yeah, that's it.
"I think they might both hang up their gloves after and then it'd be a sad day for boxing."
Joshua returned to the ring for the first time since he was injured in a car crash in December that claimed the lives of his two close friends, Sina Ghami and Latif 'Latz' Ayodele.
After Joshua was floored in the first 20 seconds, Whyte has suggested this was a sign that his old rival was not yet in the right mindset to resume his career.
"Prenga might not have been the best boxer in the world, but he could punch," said Whyte.
"In boxing, anybody can get knocked down. I've been knocked down multiple times in different fights.
"It's kind of hard to say if his punch resistance is gone, you know, I think it's more mental than punch resistance.
"I think he's in a place mentally where he's been through a lot.
"Listen, AJ is not my friend, we don't like each other per se, so you know, I'm just being honest.
"I think it's that it was the nervousness and mentally not being ready for the kind of fight that Prenga brought to him in the early rounds."
What next for Whyte?
Following a loss to Moses Itauma last summer, Whyte is back in training and hopes to sharpen his skills in a comeback bout before targeting a big name.
"I'd love to fight Derek Chisora, Andy Ruiz, Miller," he said. "These are guys from my era that I didn't fight and I'd love to fight them.
"I understand I'm coming off a first-round defeat.
"I'm not deluded - I understand that I need a fight to get myself back into contention, so whoever really.
"I just want to just get a fight back and just get back in the ring, shake some ring rust and just get my groove on again and then fight whoever there is to fight."
