Joshua (30-4, 27 KOs) and Fury (36-2-1, 25 KOs) are scheduled to duke it out December 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, in what’s been billed as the biggest fight in British boxing history. Their 12-round fight for the WBA “super” heavyweight title will headline a Ring event Netflix will stream globally.

The former two-time champions enter their long-awaited showdown with mixed results.

Joshua survived two opening-round knockdowns against the lightly regarded Kristian Prenga on July 25, only to rally and knock out his Albanian counterpart in the second stanza.

The night before, Fury stopped Mariusz Wach in seven rounds in the second fight of his tune-up tour after unretiring for a fifth time earlier this year. Fury previously beat Arslanbek Makhmudov by unanimous decision in April.

“If Tyson had spoken to me before this fight with Prenga, he may have had a better opportunity of stopping me,” Joshua said in an interview with The Ring's Mike Coppinger. “Because I wouldn't have been ready for maybe a physical fight from round one. I was in the mindset of, you know, I’m going to break these guys down, and I know I can. I know I can outlast them.”

Joshua needed the Prenga fight to get back into fighting shape after surviving a car accident in December that killed two of his closest friends.

“After that Prenga fight, I was like, remember, boxing ain’t a sport. Boxing is a f****** fight,” Joshua said. “And you got to be in there from round one. And if I can get Tyson out of there in round one, so be it. So, I’m not going in there in round one [against Fury] trying to stick behind my jab and look pretty. Fury is going to come head-on, and maybe he might walk into something. So, he better be careful because I'm ready from that first bell.”

To prepare for the occasion, Joshua has added former Fury head coach Ben Davison and Fury’s uncle, Peter Fury, to the team. Joshua trained with Oleksandr Usyk and his team for his last two fights.

“With Ben Davison, he’s a great strategist," Joshua said. “If I can combine Ben Davison’s strategy with my experience, I believe we’re going to be a match made in heaven for this particular fight with Tyson Fury.”

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.