Joshua survives two knockdowns, stops Prenga in second round to set up Tyson Fury showdown

First-round disaster and second-round knockout

Anthony Joshua entered the ring in Jeddah on Saturday as a prohibitive 1/33 favourite against Kristian Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs). Within 20 seconds the odds looked meaningless: Prenga snapped Joshua's head back with a short uppercut and the former two-time world champion crashed to the canvas, visibly shaken. He beat the count but was soon on the floor again after another Prenga assault. Twice down and in serious trouble, Joshua survived the round only by making it to the bell.

The respite was brief. Joshua stormed out for the second round, unleashing a torrent of right hands. A straight right sent Prenga tumbling through the bottom ropes, and the referee immediately waved off the contest. Heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk, ringside in Jeddah, was captured by television cameras staring in disbelief.

Carrying loss into the ring

The fight was Joshua's first since a car crash in Nigeria in December that killed his strength coach Sina Ghami and personal trainer Latif 'Latz' Ayodele, both of whom were travelling with him. Joshua wore a camouflage top and shorts inscribed with their names. After the finish his voice cracked as he addressed the crowd.

He is a serious fighter, strong, durable and he came and gave me a good test, but this is what champions do - we rise, man. We get knocked down, we stand up and we keep going. That's life.

He also said the knockout carried a different kind of force.

It's more than punch power. That was spirit. That was Latz and Sina. That was the family. You know what I mean? That hurts even talking about it.

Promoter Eddie Hearn acknowledged the emotional toll.

Boxing once saved him and he needed boxing to get through this. That camp allowed him to focus his mind while he was in so much grief and pain.

You don't know what he was going through in that camp because he doesn't talk about it.

Hearn also admitted that during the first round he thought they had come back too soon.

To even be in the ring was astonishing and when you go down a couple of times in the first round, and you're looking like your career might be over, he had to go to the depths to get up and fight on.

The Albanian's fleeting dream

Prenga's life story added texture to the drama. He grew up collecting firewood from the age of eight, working alongside his father, and fought his way into the professional ranks without favours. Signing the contract to face Joshua alone made him a national hero in Albania. For three minutes he seemed on the verge of achieving the unthinkable, but his aggression in the second round left him open and Joshua's finishing combination ended the fairy tale.

Fury blockbuster intact

Both Joshua and Tyson Fury had signed a contract to face each other later in 2026, promoter Hearn confirmed, with the stipulation that each first win a tune-up fight. Fury fulfilled his end on Friday in Pattaya, Thailand, when Polish veteran Mariusz Wach (46) retired after seven rounds. Joshua nearly derailed the arrangement with his first-round crisis, but his second-round explosion preserved what many regard as the biggest all-British heavyweight fight in decades.

I hope the fans will be in for a lovely treat.

No date or venue has been announced for Joshua-Fury, though Hearn has long promoted the idea of filling Wembley Stadium. Joshua's record now stands at 30-4 (27 KOs).