Tyson Fury and AJ are back in the ring this weekend.

Boxing has a way of overcomplicating things, so instead of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua this weekend we have Fury against Mariusz Wach, Joshua facing Kristian Prenga, with the promise that Fury and Joshua will meet later in the year. At least we have a proper world title scrap between Josh Kelly and Caoimhin Agyarko as we wonder what should have been five years or so ago.

Ding, ding. Our boxing tipster Matt Gipon is on duty to provides his best bets! Let’s go.

This weekend’s boxing tips:

*All timings are approximate

Friday 7pm: Tyson Fury v Mariusz Wach – Fury to win the fight in round 3-4
Saturday 8:15pm: Josh Kelly v Caoimhin Agyarko – Kelly to by points or decision
Saturday 10:45pm: Anthony Joshua v Kristian Prenga – Joshua to win the fight in round 3-4

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

Fury v Wach – Fury to win the fight in round 3-4

Nothing should come as a surprise when Fury, 37, is involved. But even for him, this is a bizarre one – a late notice Friday night event in Pattaya, Thailand, where all ticket proceeds go to a local charity and the opponent is a 46-year-old plodder. We won’t learn much from the fight, but it keeps the big Brit fit and focused. 

Wach lost every single round in a world title fight against Wladimir Klitschko in 2012, but those glory days are long behind him. The last time the Pole won outside of his homeland was in 2017, and he’s lost 11 times since then, including a two-round battering at the hands of Moses Itauma.

Fury has only had one fight in the last year-and-a-half since his second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk, and that was a unanimous 12 round decision win over Arslanbek Makhmudov in April. It means the former unified heavyweight champion of the world has shaken off the ring rust and is ready to put on a show.

In the past, Fury has made a habit of turning routine, tick-over contests into sparring sessions. Fights against Francesco Pianeta and Otto Wallin went the distance, and even Francis Ngannou pushed him all the way, but I can’t see that happening here.

Wach is not at the level mentally or physically of any of those guys, and Fury is going to be able to pick off his old, slow opponent at will, it’s just a question of how long Wach’s chin can hold – I’m backing Fury to win the fight in rounds 3-4.

Kelly v Agyarko – Kelly to by points or decision

Undoubtedly the fight of the weekend is Kelly, 32, versus Agyarko, 29. It’s taken a while for the Sunderland maestro to reach his potential, but after some setbacks and time out of the spotlight, he’s finally won a world title. Ireland’s Agyarko has been bubbling around the European scene for a while, but this is his first shot at world honours.

To beat Kelly you need to put him under serious stress, and then take advantage, as his fuel tank runs low. Agyarko has quality footwork, but I don’t think he has the intensity or the power to really pressurise ‘Pretty Boy’, so I’m backing the super welterweight champ to retain his title with a masterful decision win.

Joshua v Prenga – Joshua to win the fight in round 3-4

The last year has been a tragic one for Joshua after two of his closest friends died in a car crash in December, but this weekend the former two-time heavyweight champ returns to the ring to show what he has left. Prenga isn’t really fit to lace AJ’s boots, but if the Brit isn’t in the right place mentally, the Albanian has the power to cause him problems.

Prenga, 35, has literally been hand picked for this assignment by Joshua’s team, with a glossy record, but one who doesn’t really pose a threat. With 20 wins – all by knockout and only one points defeat – you’d be forgiven for thinking he’s credible, but boxing that long against a poor opponent is embarrassing.

Joshua’s recent form is a mixed bag – he iced MMA’s Ngannou in two rounds in early 2024, then he was blitzed by Daniel Dubois in five rounds later in 2024, and then in 2025, he took out YouTube’s Jake Paul in six rounds.

Physically, AJ, 36, looked tip-top for all those fights and there’s no doubt he still trains like a trojan. In fact, the Watford man has been working with Usyk and his camp for the last year, and even against Dubois he showed he still has elite-level power and speed.

What isn’t so clear is how rock solid Joshua’s mental space is. He must still be finding it incredibly hard to process what happened to his friends not long ago and nobody really knows how that will impact the way that he performs inside the ropes.

Although Prenga’s record wouldn’t stand up to a gentle breeze, he must have some power to have knocked out 20 professional boxers. Joshua can get rattled, and if he’s not quite right a monumental upset could be on the cards – but I can’t see that happening!

Prenga doesn’t have the speed or the angles to get Joshua, and he’s the perfect height to receive the trademark 1-2. I’m picking AJ to finish this in rounds 3 or 4.

This weekend’s boxing tips:

*All timings are approximate

Friday 7pm: Tyson Fury v Mariusz Wach – Fury to win the fight in round 3-4
Saturday 8:15pm: Josh Kelly v Caoimhin Agyarko – Kelly to by points or decision
Saturday 10:45pm: Anthony Joshua v Kristian Prenga – Joshua to win the fight in round 3-4

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

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