Anthony Joshua Survives Two Knockdowns to Stop Kristian Prenga, Fires Warning at Tyson Fury
By Real Combat Media Boxing Editorial Staff
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, (July 25th, 2026)–Anthony Joshua needed exactly one big punch to save his comeback, and it came at the end of a first round that nearly blew up the whole plan. Kristian Prenga dropped Joshua twice inside the opening round Saturday at the Jeddah Superdome, but Joshua steadied himself and blasted out the previously unbeaten Albanian in the second, keeping alive a proposed November showdown with fellow Brit Tyson Fury, who stopped Mariusz Wach a night earlier in Thailand.
Prenga (20-2, 20 KOs) landed clean with a right uppercut just 19 seconds into the fight, sending Joshua down before the Englishman had thrown a punch. Joshua beat the count but was hurt again later in the round, taking a knee under pressure as the Jeddah crowd sensed a genuine upset. He survived to hear the bell, came out for the second a different fighter, and dropped Prenga with a short right hand before a follow-up right hook put him through the ropes for the finish at 2:43 of round two.
It was Joshua’s first fight since a car accident in Nigeria last December that killed two people close to him, days after he had stopped YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in his previous outing. “I can’t be stopped, I’m not gonna be stopped, I’m not gonna be denied,” Joshua said afterward. “You saw someone knocked down for a bit, but I got back up, and that’s what life is about.”
Joshua Sends a Message to Fury
Fury had confirmed the day before that he would make the trip to Jeddah, but he wasn’t in the room when Joshua addressed reporters afterward, and Joshua noticed. “Wait a minute, have we got Tyson Fury in the room?” he asked, before being told Fury wasn’t present. He kept going anyway. “I’m the meanest and most vicious champion there’s ever been,” Joshua said, before turning more serious. “There’s two sides to this thing. One is fire, that vim, that grrr. But also respect. I respect everything he has done and everything he has achieved. As someone who has been calling for this fight for a long time, we’re here now,” he said, thanking promoter Eddie Hearn for finally getting it made.
In a separate post-fight news conference, Joshua laid out exactly how he plans to approach the fight itself. “Start fast, come with explosive power punches… And I want to try and end him if I’m honest,” he said. Fury had predicted a Joshua knockout the day before and sent back a message of his own when asked if he had anything to say to Joshua, one that was confident, crude, and left little room for interpretation. Both sides are now targeting November for the long-delayed all-British heavyweight clash.
Full Card Results
Heavyweight: Anthony Joshua def. Kristian Prenga by KO, Round 2 (2:43)
WBO Super Middleweight Title: Hamzah Sheeraz def. Simon Zachenhuber by majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 116-112)
IBF Super Welterweight Title: Josh Kelly def. Caoimhin Agyarko by unanimous decision (114-113, 115-112, 115-112)
Super Featherweight: Reito Tsutsumi def. Alvino Herrera Meza by TKO, Round 2 (0:28)
Super Middleweight: Jacob Bank def. Pawel August by unanimous decision (80-72, 80-72, 80-72)
Super Welterweight: Nishant Dev def. Cesar Diaz by TKO, Round 1 (2:56)
Light Heavyweight: Oleksandr Khyzhniak def. Lenny Patrach by TKO, Round 2 (1:56)
Welterweight: Ziyad Almaayouf def. Frank Lucian Mango by unanimous decision (78-71, 77-72, 77-72)
Bantamweight: Mikie Tallon def. Orlando Pino by KO, Round 1 (1:31)
Lightweight: Mohammed Alakel def. Lydon Chircop by TKO, Round 5 (2:02)
Super Featherweight: Sultan Almohammed def. Efren Besalduch by TKO, Round 3 (2:41)
Super Middleweight: Omar Hikal def. Brian Castellano by unanimous decision (40-35, 40-35, 40-35)
Junior Welterweight: Mahmoud Mobark def. Bryan Zapata by unanimous decision (40-36, 39-37, 40-36)
Watch
Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga, Video Highlights
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