Anthony Joshua survives two first-round knockdowns to brutally KO Kristian Prenga and set up the Tyson Fury superfight

[Andy92]

Anthony Joshua's comeback fight nearly went badly wrong before it went right. Just 19 seconds into the first round in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Albania's Kristian Prenga caught Joshua cold with a right uppercut and dropped him to the canvas, then floored him a second time before the round ended, leaving Joshua looking genuinely unsteady heading into the second. Joshua composed himself between rounds, came out setting up his jab in round two, tagged Prenga with a right hand, then landed two more huge right hands that dropped Prenga against the ropes. He never recovered, and the fight was waved off at 2 minutes 43 seconds of the second round

The result keeps Joshua's path toward a long awaited all British superfight with Tyson Fury alive, a bout the two have reportedly been close to making at least three times before without it actually happening. Fury had already done his part the night before, stopping Mariusz Wach in seven rounds in a low key tune-up in Thailand. No date or location for a Joshua-Fury fight was announced after Saturday's result, and Fury did not appear at the Jeddah event, though Joshua addressed him directly afterward, saying there's two sides to this, fire and respect, I respect everything he's done, we're here now

The win carries real weight beyond the record, arriving just seven months after Joshua was a passenger in a car crash that killed his two close friends Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, whose names were honored on the fight canvas. Joshua had said beforehand that boxing was his purpose in life and that he wanted to look after his late friends' families going forward. The card also saw Hamzah Sheeraz retain the WBO super middleweight title via majority decision over Simon Zachenhuber, and Josh Kelly retain the IBF super welterweight title by unanimous decision against Caoimhin Agyarko, both undercard title defenses going the distance on what was otherwise a heavyweight headlined show

[Cass93]

Getting dropped twice in the first 19 seconds and still finishing the job like that says a lot about Joshua's chin and composure at this stage of his career, that could easily have gone the other way

[RedWrench]

Prenga's power was clearly real, 20 knockouts in 20 wins before this fight was not a hollow record, Joshua just found the second round adjustment before it cost him the fight entirely

[Velvet Connor]

The lack of an actual Fury fight announcement after the win is a little deflating given how much speculation there was going in, but the door is clearly still open based on Joshua's own comments afterward

[StormForge89]

Joshua honoring his late friends' names on the canvas is a moving detail, puts the whole comeback in a completely different context than just another heavyweight fight

[FreeKickKing73]

This has to be the third or fourth time this exact Joshua-Fury fight has been teased as close to happening, won't believe it until an actual date and venue get confirmed

[MachineSaint69]

The over-marination of a fight comment from one report is a fair read, Prenga clearly wasn't just a tune-up opponent to be dismissed, that first round nearly proved it decisively

[NWO]

Two knockdowns surviving in the same round and still getting the stoppage win in the next one is exactly the kind of resilience narrative that actually helps sell a Fury fight even more than a clean, easy win would have

[StringTheory88]

Joshua at 36 taking this level of risk against a live opponent like Prenga rather than a safer name shows he's serious about actually testing himself before any Fury fight happens

[Louise82]

Good undercard too, Sheeraz and Kelly both defending their titles on the same show adds real depth beyond just the Joshua headliner

[Paige_68]

Would not be shocked if the Fury fight announcement comes within the next few weeks now that both men have gotten their tune-ups out of the way this same weekend

[QuantumFoam19]

A win but nonetheless Embarrassing for Joshua. Dare I say he looked even worse than Fury !