‎British-Nigerian heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua has said the trials and tribulations of his career have only shown him how strong he is, as he prepares to return to the ring against Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 25.

‎“I have been through trials and tribulations during my career, but I feel like those trials and tribulations just show me how strong I am to be able to still be standing today.

‎“I know a lot of people would not choose to be sat here today. They would choose to be somewhere else on a beach because they do not want to go through what it takes to be a champion. We are talking about an undisputed champion. We are talking about unified champion, world champion, and beating Prenga on July 25, so we have still got big ambitions,” Joshua told DAZN.

‎The bout comes 10 years after Joshua’s first world title win, a comprehensive second-round knockout of Charles Martin in April 2016 that turned the already popular Londoner into a superstar.

‎The following April, he stopped modern great Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium, a night that started a seemingly endless string of enormous stadium fights and helped make British boxing such big business.

‎At various times over the past decade, Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder have all been able to argue that they should be recognised as the best heavyweight in the world, with Joshua a major factor in that debate for years, while his peers have either dropped out of contention or spoken about retiring.

‎Reflecting on the milestone, Joshua, 36, said he remains determined to return to the top.

‎“We look at the history and time has never stopped. This is just my time. Ten years on, I am still standing strong, still very, very conditioned. My mind is fully focused,” he said.

‎Joshua, who holds a record of 29 wins, four losses and 26 knockouts, has enjoyed massive highs but has endured his share of lows across the decade. In June 2019, a stunning knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden destroyed a heralded introduction to the American audience and ruined early plans for a gigantic transatlantic undisputed title fight with Wilder.

‎Just six months later, Joshua regained his titles with a disciplined display of boxing, but if a subsequent pair of defeats to Usyk were understandable, a one-sided knockout loss to Daniel Dubois beneath the arch at Wembley Stadium in September 2024 was harder to come to terms with.

‎In December, a knockout win over Jake Paul did wonders for Joshua’s American profile and saw him regain some of his swagger, but before he could begin cementing plans for 2026, he was involved in a car accident in Nigeria that took the lives of two of his closest friends.

‎Joshua now returns to action against Prenga, the Albanian puncher who holds a record of 20 wins, one loss and 20 knockouts, with a long-awaited showdown against Fury expected to follow before the end of the year, should both men win their respective assignments in the coming weeks.