Joshua vs Prenga LIVE!
Anthony Joshua returns against Kristian Prenga tonight as he looks to set up the biggest fight in British boxing history against Tyson Fury. It remains to be seen if Fury will appear at ringside in Jeddah, having vowed to fly in from Thailand in something of a U-turn following his dominant seven-round win over veteran heavyweight Mariusz Wach in Thailand on Friday.
Now the onus is firmly on Joshua to match that performance with an emphatic statement of his own as he fights for the first time since suffering minor injuries as a passenger in a serious car crash in Nigeria in December that claimed the lives of two close friends and team members in Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele. That tragic accident came just 10 days after Joshua had knocked out Jake Paul in Miami.
He is an overwhelming favourite to stop little-known Albanian challenger Prenga, though may need to be careful with an opponent who has a reputation as a knockout artist. On the undercard, Hamzah Sheeraz successfully defended his WBO super-middleweight title against Simon Zachenhuber after Josh Kelly retained the IBF super-welterweight belt in a brutal battle with Caoimhin Agyarko. Follow Joshua vs Prenga live below!
Joshua vs Prenga latest news
Anthony Joshua knocks out Kristian Prenga in round two Joshua put down twice in shocking first round Hamzah Sheeraz retains WBO super-middleweight title Josh Kelly outpoints Caoimhin Agyarko to defend IBF belt Reito Tsutsumi blitzes Alvino Herrera in second round Jacob Bank shines in win over Pawel August Nishant Dev stops Cesar Diaz in first roundLive updates
Oleksandr Usyk reacts to chaotic Anthony Joshua win
Oleksandr Usyk went through a lot of emotions at ringside during one of the most chaotic five minutes of heavyweight boxing you are ever likely to see...
An emotional Joshua is understandably fighting back the tears in the ring as he is asked about his strength just to return tonight after the deaths of his long-time team members Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele in that car accident in Nigeria in December.
He understandably doesn’t want to talk too much about it as he pays tribute to his late friends.
Joshua deserves massive respect for the strength he has shown to recover from such a tragedy and resume his career.
Anthony Joshua sends message to Tyson Fury
It appears that Tyson Fury really has stayed away tonight.
Joshua excitedly asks during his post-fight interview with DAZN in the ring if Fury is here, but he obviously isn’t going to make any sort of dramatic late entrance.
Asked if he has a message for Fury, Joshua recites the famous Mike Tyson ‘I’m the best ever’ speech that followed his 38-second stoppage win over Lou Savarese in Glasgow in 2000.
GettyI don’t quite know how to process that absolutely wild couple of rounds.
I have never seen Joshua as bad as he was in that first round. Ever.
He was absolutely all over the place and extremely fortunate to see the bell.
Prenga will be absolutely raging that he let him straight back into the contest at the start of the second.
He was so, so close to one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
A more positive start to that second and he would surely have sealed it and completely wrecked the Fury-Joshua plans.
Anthony Joshua recovers to knock out Kristian Prenga in second round
JOSHUA RECOVERS TO KNOCK PRENGA OUT IN THE SECOND ROUND!
TALK ABOUT DRAMA!
My word.
Down twice in one of the worst rounds of his career, he comes firing straight back to smash Prenga with a trademark right hand that sends him almost through the ropes.
Not a chance he was beating that count.
GettyJoshua vs Prenga
Are we about to see one of the biggest upsets in boxing history?!
Prenga is letting Joshua come firing back early in the second round...
GettyJoshua vs Prenga
I cannot believe what I am seeing here!
Joshua is absolutely all over the place, on totally shaky legs as the powerful Prenga continues to rain down heavy blows.
Joshua is hanging on here and seems to have some sort of problem with his leg.
He will do very well indeed to make the end of this round.
Every punch from Prenga seems to hurt him, his gloves touch the canvas again and he’s counted for the second time in the first round!
Incredible.
Joshua vs Prenga
Here we go!
Will this be as emphatic as everyone expects?
JOSHUA IS DOWN AFTER AN UPPERCUT IN THE FIRST 20 SECONDS!
I REPEAT, JOSHUA IS DOWN IN THE FIRST 20 SECONDS!
OH MY WORD! HE’S BACK UP, BUT AN ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING START IN JEDDAH!
Joshua vs Prenga
We’ve had the national anthems of Albania and Great Britain.
Michael Buffer will do the final introductions and his patented ‘let’s get ready to rumble’ call, then we will be under way at last.
Dare I say that Joshua - wearing military camouflage - looks a little nervous as he paces up and down in the corner?
Prenga has the flag of Albania on his gloves.
Getty
GettyJoshua vs Prenga ring walks
A no-frills ring walk from Prenga, who is head down and straight to the middle.
Now here comes Joshua, after a rousing preview video and an eclectic mix of music.
The walk out to the ring at the Jeddah Superdome is short, so it doesn’t allow for the usual amount of build-up.
Still no sign of Fury...
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