Eddie Hearn All But Writes Off Prenga Before Joshua Fight

The Matchroom chairman says Joshua should finish Prenga inside three rounds, adding to criticism of the DAZN pay-per-view main event.

Eddie Hearn expects Anthony Joshua to stop Kristian Prenga inside three rounds, offering a blunt assessment of Saturday night’s heavyweight main event. The Matchroom chairman said Prenga was selected to provide a competitive fight, but admitted he does not believe the Albanian is on Joshua’s level.

Fans already questioned Prenga’s selection after Joshua’s knockout victory over Jake Paul last December put him back on course for a long-awaited clash with Tyson Fury. Hearn did little to change that perception when discussing the heavyweight main event.

Hearn made it clear he sees Joshua operating at a completely different level than the Albanian challenger.

“If he does what he can do, I think he [Joshua] gets him out of there inside three rounds,” said Hearn about Prenga. ”

“Listen, he ultimately has been picked for a reason, and the reason is he’s competitive, he’s game, but he shouldn’t be on the level of Anthony Joshua. The problem is, if you’ve never fought on that level, you never really know if they’re on that level. I don’t think he’s good enough, and will get the shock of his life when he gets in there and AJ hits him. If he shows one sign of being hurt, the fights over.

“I think he’s going to panic and let his hands go and you don’t want to be catching one when you’re going for the finish.”

Earlier in the broadcast, Tony Bellew took Hearn’s prediction even further. Bellew said Joshua should beat Prenga “in devastating fashion,” while Carl Frampton agreed the challenger had already found his level and that it sits well below Joshua’s.

Those comments are unlikely to satisfy fans paying premium prices for the event. Prenga is 35 years old and enters the biggest fight of his career without a victory over a recognized heavyweight contender. Hearn’s expectation of a quick knockout only adds to the belief that Joshua’s comeback was designed to keep him active before a much bigger fight against Fury later this year.

The undercard bouts have also struggled to create excitement. Hamzah Sheeraz defends his WBO super middleweight title against Simon Zachenhuber, whose resume lacks notable victories, while Josh Kelly makes the first defense of his IBF junior middleweight belt against Caoimhin Agyarko after his disputed win over Bakhram Murtazaliev.

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