Anthony Joshua has vowed to 'rip' Tyson Fury's heart out after sending a violent message to his rival just moments after knocking out Kristian Prenga.
The former two-time heavyweight champion returned to the ring on Saturday night - just months after escaping death after he was involved in a horrific car crash over in Nigeria which resulted in the deaths of Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami.
In the build up to fight week, there was a lot of talk about a potential clash between Fury and Joshua. The pair agreed to a fight earlier this year, but had to get through their respective warm-up fights.
Fury returned to the squared-circle on Friday night and forced veteran Mariusz Wach to quit on his stool at the end of the seventh to uphold his end of the bargain.
Joshua, on the other hand, nearly saw a fight with Fury fall apart after he was sent crashing to the canvas just seconds into his clash with Prenga. The Brit managed to climb back up, but nearly fell to the floor again. He clung on and made it to the second when he took the fight to Prenga before knocking out the Albanian.
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Immediately after scoring an epic comeback win, Joshua started looking around the arena to try and Fury - who was a no show. After realising his rival was nowhere to be seen, 'AJ' offered a rather violent message to his long-time foe, as he recited Mike Tyson’s warning to Lennox Lewis, directing the lines at the 'Gypsy King'.
“Wait a minute - have we got Tyson Fury in the room? Wait, wait, wait, to more important matters - is he here or not? Fair do’s. Imma rip his heart out. I'm the meanest and vicious champion's ever been”
He then calmed the mood by adding:
“Listen, all jokes aside, you see, there’s two sides of this thing. One is fire. You have to have that vim, that grrr. But also respect. I respect everything he has done. And everything he has achieved. As someone who who has been calling for the fight for a long time, we're here now. Shout out to his Excellency. Shout to Eddie Hearn for making these opportunities possible, and I hope the fans will be in for a lovely treat.”
A relieved promoter Eddie Hearn thought his fighter may have returned too soon, but was eager to provide an update on the all-British showdown.
