Key events
Fight report
Donald McRae
Anthony Joshua cleared his final hurdle in the ring, before he fights Tyson Fury in November, after he was knocked down twice, shockingly, in the first round of his wild and chaotic bout with Kristian Prenga in the early hours of Sunday morning in Jeddah. A devastating knockout in the second left Prenga crumpled in a heap on the canvas, wrapped up in the ropes, and rescued Joshua from humiliation.
After the opening three minutes his extravaganza with Fury looked as if it was about to end in abject ruins but Joshua pulled himself out of a dark pit streaked with defeat to salvage his career – and his much-hyped fight with his British compatriot.
I’m going to leave you with Donald McRae’s report on a wild contest. Heavyweight boxing, eh? Thanks for following along with us. The main event was brief, but it was memorable.
No Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia tonight – but presumably he’s watching somewhere, his pulse slowly settling after the mega-fight with Joshua was so nearly scuppered.
Will we see Joshua v Fury – at long last – later this year? Contracts are apparently signed (though without a venue being confirmed, so make what you will of that). You’d think it makes sense for both.
So as the post-carnage drama starts to calm, we can analyse what this means for Joshua. You have to say he looked so slow off the mark in that opening round, when he skirted close to disaster. Being on the brink of getting stopped by a heavy-handed but wholly unproven foe is not ideal.
But the glass-half-full view is that he got up, recovered, then showed his heart and finishing prowess to go after and batter Prenga in round two.
“The maddest five minutes of boxing I’ve ever seen,” reckons Carl Frampton on studio analysis duties. It was a rollercoaster. Joshua looked badly hurt when he crashed to the canvas so early in the first round – a right hand, then an uppercut in close.
He was on shaky legs for the rest of the first round but somehow got to the bell enduring only one more knockdown. Prenga might for ever regret not pressing his advantage but he’s probably not used to people getting up from punches like that.
AJ got up, went on the attack in round two and Prenga couldn’t stand up to his pulverising blows.
“It hurts me talking about it, man,” says Joshua as he’s asking about the past seven months and the recovery from that car accident. Understandably, he’s on the verge of tears and does not want to speak about the loss of his two friends at this point.
Eddie Hearn pays tribute to his heavyweight charge but AJ requests the mic back: “You know what I learned [tonight]? I can’t be stopped, man – I can’t be denied.”
Anthony Joshua praises Kristian Prenga’s effort, thanks “a higher power” for helping him get up from those two knockdowns. He then asks: “Is Tyson Fury in the room?” He isn’t but Joshua is asked if he wants to send Fury a message.
AJ goes into a riff on Mike Tyson’s famous rant (about Lennox Lewis), the “I’m the most brutal and vicious and most ruthless champion” stuff with the line about eating his heart. But Joshua delivers it with a wink and a knowing smile.
Usyk puffs out his cheeks and shakes his head in disbelief in the crowd – you and all of us, Oleksandr. Joshua lets loose a cathartic roar as he grins and gestures to the watching fans.
What on earth did we just watch? Catching replays of the finish now. Joshua catches Prenga with a ramrod left jab that pushes Prenga towards the ropes before a right hand badly hurts him.
Joshua then lands some brutal hooks with Prenga against the ropes. He’s always been a spectacular finisher and he proved it there – after coming so close to being stopped in round one.
Joshua defeats Prenga by second-round knockout!
How did Anthony Joshua do that? He got up from two first-round knockdowns to blast out Kristian Prenga in the second round. Wow!
Round 2
Prenga unfathomably does not look to press after his massive first round. He’s actually pushed back as Joshua comes forward and lands a hefty one-two. Barry Jones on commentary scolds Prenga for his lack of experience in not leaping on AJ.
Joshua crashing in some mighty haymakers and Prenga collapses in the corner! Two rounds of mayhem. He won’t beat the count!
Round 1
Wow – what an astonishing start. Joshua lands a few blows at the bell and sticks out his tongue but that was a huge round for the underdog. He couldn’t miss with a slow but clearly very heavy right hand, landing numerous blows after stunning AJ inside 20 seconds, then scoring a second knockdown. Can the minute’s break make any difference for Joshua?
Guardian’s unofficial score: Joshua 7-10 Prenga (Joshua 7-10 Prenga)
Joshua is on wobbly legs in round one! Prenga is teeing off with a big, thudding right hand. AJ is very unsteady as he looks to cling on. He gets bundled over – not a knockdown but he looks all over the place here.
Prenga knocks down Joshua with an uppercut inside the first 20 seconds!
The opening bell
The referee gives his final instructions – ding-ding! We are under way in Jeddah.
Michael Butler readies and rumbles his way through the introductions. AJ prowls the ring in camouflage trunks, I’m not going to say he looks entirely at ease. But he is well used to this kind of stage and arena – it’s all new to Prenga.
Oleksandr Usyk is in the crowd, watching Joshua the heavyweight who – in true Rocky 3 style – was his rival, but they are now part of the same training team. He’s sporting a very shiny earring.
It’s national anthem time: Saudi Arabia, Albania and then Britain. We await the first bell!
Anthony Joshua’s cinematic pre-ring walk package pays homage to his two friends who died in that car crash in Nigeria. Joshua looks pensive as he emerges. You hope that awful night isn’t too much on his mind.
A bit of Meek Mill on the tunes and he walks into the ring.
Michael Buffer is in the ring and the MC introduces Kristian “KP” Prenga. So, it’s AJ v KP…? It’s not exactly Marvelous Marvin Hagler v Tommy “The Hitman” Hearns in the great boxing nickname stakes, is it?
Prenga marches into the ring and raises a fist to his supporters. He looks stoic.
So how do we see Joshua-Prenga playing out? Well, the peak version of AJ used to crush opponents like this in a round or two, if we’re honest. But we could always see the tentative version of Joshua early on – and a few slow rounds before the power tells later.
Or Prenga could really be as heavy-handed as his record suggests and he just chins the favourite. Unlikely, but you never know with the heavyweight division! There: every base covered.
We see Anthony Joshua crashing his mighty fists into the pads in his dressing room as he gets ready for his imminent ring walk. He looks in tip-top shape, as always.
Sheeraz defeats Zachenhuber by majority decision!
Hamzah Sheeraz defends his WBO super-middleweight crown – but only narrowly on the judges’ scorecards. One judge has it 114-114 but the other two have it to the champ by two rounds and by four rounds. So a moral victory, of sorts, for the busy Simon Zachenhuber who was a pre-fight long shot. A bit of a damp squib for Sheeraz, who confirms post-fight that his right hands is fine.
Anthony Joshua and Kristian Prenga will be in the ring next!
It’s all a bit scrappy in the Sheeraz-Zachenhuber fight. Sheeraz might have hurt his right hand but he’s never quite got to grips with the style of the tall, busy southpaw in front of him. That said, he’s landed enough quality blows against the game Zachenhuber to (probably) build up a healthy lead – we await the 12th and final round!
Well, with Sheeraz-Zachenhuber now in round nine, we won’t see Joshua and Prenga walk to the ring at the previously mooted 10.52pm (BST). Not unless they just stride into the arena while this is going on. “Hurry up.”
Meanwhile, Sheeraz is probably winning this fight but hardly looking spectacular. Zachenhuber is outworking him … and as I type that, Sheeraz nearly doubled him over with a body shot. He’s had success going to the body when he’s done it.
They exchange blows in rounds six and seven, both seemingly happy to swap blows. Darren Barker speculates that Sheeraz may have hurt his right hand as he’s throwing the left with more force. He’s being very tentative with the right. Zachenhuber won the seventh in my book – several one-twos went straight through Sheeraz’s guard.
The rounds are stacking up for Sheeraz as he lets go with those long levers in round five. Zachenhuber is backing off, still throwing and landing, but he doesn’t appear to have the power to keep the defending champion off him. The crowd noise gets louder; they can sense a stoppage.
Sheeraz lands a thumping body shot in round three and a sweeping hook to the nose which results in Zachenhuber grimacing. Starting to up the tempo? We shall see, Zachenhuber takes them well enough.
The TV cuts to Joshua and Prenga getting their hands wrapped in their dressing rooms. No horseshoes being sneaked in there as I could see, so all appears in order.
Sheeraz on the front foot in the opening rounds against Zachenhuber. He’s stalking and searching for openings with the straight right hand, which is the money punch against a southpaw, but he’s yet to find the target clean.
Zachenhuber, nicknamed “The Matador” is busy and although his punches aren’t pushing Sheeraz back, he’s landing a fair few. A pretty even start.
Hamzah Sheeraz makes his way to the ring for his WBO super-middleweight title defence against Germany’s Simon Zachenhuber. The Briton is a big favourite.
The MC Thomas Treiber describes it – optimistically – as “the co-main event”. Hmm. The actual main event will follow this contest.
Back to Fury’s win against Wach – as we await the final undercard bout before Joshua v Prenga tonight. From the clips doing the rounds, the victor was switch-hitting and winning comfortably before Wach’s corner pulled their man out on his stool after seven rounds.
Fury did get clocked clean a few times – perhaps not ideal – but then he’s always fought up and down to the level of his opponent. Plus you can’t really read too much into a glorified sparring session.
Kelly defeats Agyarko by unanimous decision!
Josh Kelly wins a narrow 12-round decision to defend his IBF 154lb title – and it turned out to very tough assignment. Kelly boxed slickly early on, got caught several times by a game Caoimhín Agyarko in the middle rounds, then a bloody-nosed champion gritted his teeth and came through the final rounds (despite a one-point deduction in the fifth).
The judges has it 114-113 and 115-112 (twice). Respectful applause from Agyarko, despite the close nature of the decision.
Kelly bleeding from the nose and a cut under the eye, Agyarko firing jabs and hooks at the so-called “Pretty Boy” who’s looking a bit worse for wear. However the defending champion had a big lead after five rounds and he comes back firing sharply in the 10th round. Two to go and you never knows how the judges have.
Kristian Prenga arrives in the arena, chewing some delicious gum. He looks cool enough.
In the ring, Agyarko is coming back into the fight against Kelly in the second half, helped by the defending IBF champ being docked a point for a punch to the back of the head in round six. Kelly’s work rate has dropped a tad and he’s being caught more often as they exchange. We’ve just started the eighth round.
Josh Kelly is boxing smoothly against Ireland’s Caoimhín Agyarko in their IBF light-middleweight title bout. Five rounds of a possible 12 completed and Sunderland’s “Pretty Boy” has won most, if not all, of them – although he has a cut under his left eye. Something for Agyarko to aim at.
Some pre-fight reading to set the scene as Don McRae assesses the planned Fury-Joshua showdown. It was written before Fury’s one-sided victory yesterday, but it all still holds true and is particularly relevant on AJ’s state of mind this weekend.
Joshua’s return is far more meaningful as it marks a significant step in his emotional and psychological recovery since he was injured in the devastating accident in Nigeria that killed his close friends, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, just after Christmas. There had been doubts Joshua would have the appetite to box again, but he believes his desire in the ring remains undiminished as he prepares to fight the obscure Albanian heavyweight Kristian Prenga late on Saturday night in Jeddah.
“It’s on Prenga, but it’s also on Fury, because I want it all,” Joshua said of his focus this week. “I believe I can become undisputed [heavyweight champion of the world]. I’ve still got the ambition and hunger.”
Tonight’s undercard has a strong British interest – Josh Kelly and Hamzah Sheeraz both making the first defences of world titles they won earlier this year.
Sunderland light-middleweight Kelly could have a tricky assignment against unbeaten Caoimhín Agyarko, who is aiming to become Ireland’s first black world champion. Ilford super-middleweight Sheeraz could have a less tricky assignment against Germany’s Simon Zachenhuber, who has a 28-1 record – but that one loss was in a six-rounder in April. And now he’s fighting for a world title. Oh boxing!
Kelly v Agyarko is next up in Jeddah; Sheeraz v Zachenhuber at approx 9.40pm. Updates to come.
Tyson Fury kept up his end of the deal by defeating Mariusz Wach in Thailand on Friday. In case you did not see it – and there’s a strong chance you didn’t, as it wasn’t broadcast live and was filmed for Fury’s reality show on Netflix – here’s the fight report.
“I went through my test tonight,” Fury said (apparently with a straight face after stopping the 46-year-old, 290lb Wach). “Let’s see if he [Joshua] can get through his.” Indeed we will.
Preamble
Anthony Joshua’s first fight of 2026 – a planned tune-up before a showdown with Tyson Fury – comes against exactly the type of opponent you’d expect. Kristian Prenga is a strapping 6ft 5in Albanian with an eye-catching 20-1 (all 20 wins by KO) record that contains a sum total of zero elite opponents.
But hold on, Prenga ultras might ask: when exactly did Britain’s former two-time world champion last see off a real heavyweight threat himself? Joshua’s last three fights are a sixth-round stoppage of YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, a brutal KO loss to Daniel Dubois and a two-round demolition of mixed-martial artist Francis Ngannou. You have to go back to December 2023 to find the last time AJ defeated a proven heavyweight contender in the shape of Otto Wallin.
Joshua is also returning to the ring after a fatal car crash in Nigeria last December that killed two of his close friends. Although he’s recovered from his injuries, it’s understandable that the 36-year-old’s future in the sport was questioned after such a traumatic experience. No wonder he wants to shake off the ring rust before a long-awaited bout against Fury.
Prenga is a whopping underdog against a fighter with AJ’s credentials. An Olympic gold medallist who’s beaten Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin, Wladimir Klitschko – and gone 24 pretty competitive rounds with Oleksandr Usyk – should have no problem polishing off a foe who’s only gone beyond six rounds once. (And that was when Prenga lost an eight-round decision in his fifth pro fight.)
This is heavyweight boxing, so you never 100% know. But it would be a major upset if even the late-career version of AJ were to be seriously troubled by Prenga in Jeddah.
Ring walks are – apparently – at 10.52pm (BST). Lots of updates before then! Feel free to email your thoughts.
