Two-time heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua survived two early knockdowns on the way to a second-round knockout of Kristian Prenga on Saturday, his triumphant ring return paving the way for a blockbuster all-British bout with Tyson Fury.
The fight at the Jeddah Superdome was Joshua’s first since he was involved in a car crash in Nigeria in December that killed two of his close friends, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele.
The devastating accident occurred little more than a week after Joshua demolished YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a controversial Netflix-backed bout in December.
Joshua’s last competitive appearance in the ring was his fifth-round knockout loss to IBF world champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 2024.
He improved to 30-4, with 27 wins by knockout, but not without drama.
Albania’s Prenga, a knockout artist who had 20 knockout wins in 21 prior fights, sent Joshua to the canvas with a right uppercut just 20 seconds into the bout.
He had Joshua on the ropes again, his legs shaky, before sending him down a second time late in the first.
But Joshua steadied in the second, backing Prenga into the corner behind his jab and hurting the Albanian before landing a brutal combination that sent Prenga crashing through the ropes to end it at 2:43 of the second round.
Meanwhile, Tyson Fury edged closer to the blockbuster heavyweight clash with Anthony Joshua after defeating Poland’s Mariusz Wach by technical knock-out on Friday, but said he was “not convinced” his fellow Briton would face him.
Fury, 37, outclassed Wach in front of 1500 spectators in the Thai resort city of Pattaya in a bout that was not broadcast live on television.
Former two-time world heavyweight champion Fury chipped away relentlessly at the 46-year-old until he was pulled out by his corner in the seventh round. –Skysports
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