Anthony Joshua recovered from a calamitous opening round to knock out Kristian Prenga and rescue a super-fight with Tyson Fury.
Joshua was knocked down twice early in shocking fashion on his chaotic return against a little-known opponent in Saudi Arabia last Saturday night, left clinging on as he almost fell victim to one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
The former two-time world heavyweight champion was rocked by a thudding uppercut inside the first 20 seconds at the Jeddah Superdome and looked hurt on seriously unsteady legs.
Prenga poured on the pressure, with Joshua’s gloves touching the canvas as he appeared to take a knee then bringing on another count from the referee.
Joshua seemed in real trouble, but regathered his composure quickly before the start of the second round and came firing back immediately, almost launching Prenga through the ropes with a trademark powerful right hand that left the Albanian unable to beat the count.
Joshua’s 30th win - and 27th knockout - in 34 professional fights saw him remain on course to finally meet arch-rival Fury later in 2026 in arguably the biggest and most lucrative bout in British boxing history.
