Anthony Joshua defeated Kristian Prenga by a second-round knockout in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on July 25, 2026, in a comeback fight after being knocked down twice in the first round [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Joshua fell within the first 20-30 seconds but recovered to end the fight decisively, demonstrating resilience. "He is a serious fighter, strong, durable and he came and gave me a good test, but this is what champions do - we rise, man. We get knocked down, we stand up and we keep going," Joshua said after the bout [3].
Before facing Joshua, Kristian Prenga held a record of 20 wins—all by knockout—and a single loss, marking him as a formidable opponent [6, 7]. Joshua improved his professional record to 30 wins and 4 losses with the victory [6, 8].
This victory clears the way for the highly anticipated heavyweight showdown between Joshua and Tyson Fury, planned later in 2026. Contracts between the two fighters were signed around April or May 2026, according to promoters [2, 4, 9]. Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, confirmed the fight is legally binding and expected to take place in the UK. Wembley Stadium is the preferred venue [4, 9]. Hearn said, "We signed a legally binding contract about three months ago," adding Joshua insists the fight should be staged in the UK as "this is a British fight" [4, 9].
Tyson Fury, 37, won his warm-up fight against Mariusz Wach in Thailand on July 24, 2026, retiring Wach before the eighth round [6, 1, 3, 9]. The purses for the Fury vs Joshua fight are speculated to be around $100 million each [9, 10].
Joshua's path to this comeback was marked by personal tragedy when he was seriously injured in a car crash in Nigeria in December 2025, an accident that killed two of his close friends, Sina Ghami and Latif "Latz" Ayodele [6, 2, 8, 4]. Promoter Eddie Hearn praised Joshua’s resilience: "Tonight is all about the strength that he showed to even be here and the strength that he had to show in that fight… he had to go to the depths one more time to get up and fight on" [3].
With contracts signed and both fighters victorious in recent bouts, boxing fans now await the official announcement of the date and venue for the Fury-Joshua heavyweight clash.
