Anthony Joshua
Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua says he emerged from a shaky opening round against Kristian Prenga feeling "unstoppable," despite being floored twice before storming back for a second-round knockout victory in Saudi Arabia over the weekend.

Joshua secured the stoppage win over Prenga on Saturday, despite being dropped twice in the opening round of the bout. The victory was crucial for preserving his highly anticipated all-British clash with Tyson Fury, which is expected to take place later this year.

A Rocky Start Followed by a Swift Finish

Joshua was dropped by Prenga in the opening 20 seconds of the fight in Saudi Arabia, before the previously unheralded Albanian fighter scored a second knockdown of "AJ" later in the first round. Joshua then bounced back to score a second-round knockout, securing the win needed to keep his planned showdown with Fury on track for later this year.

Joshua's Unusual Reaction to the Win

Rather than treating the rocky start as a cause for concern, Joshua described the experience in strikingly positive terms afterward. Reflecting on the difficult first round, Joshua said on the 5 Live Boxing Podcast that he felt "unstoppable" after overcoming the early adversity, framing the moment as character-building rather than a setback.

Referencing the fact that he laughed upon scoring the win, Joshua told Independent columnist Steve Bunce on the 5 Live Boxing Podcast, "Did I look relieved?" The comment suggested Joshua viewed his ability to recover from adversity as a source of confidence rather than doubt, even as questions swirled about his ability to absorb punishment heading into a potential clash with Fury.

Usyk in Joshua's Corner

Joshua's recent training arrangements added an intriguing subplot to Saturday's fight. Oleksandr Usyk, who defeated Joshua by decision in both 2021 and 2022, has been training "AJ" in recent months, and he was seen looking relieved at ringside in Jeddah as Joshua overcame Prenga's early knockdowns.

An Emotional Return Following Tragedy

Saturday's fight carried significant emotional weight beyond the result itself, marking Joshua's first bout since surviving a fatal car crash. This was Joshua's first fight since a fatal car crash in December that killed two of his teammates, Sina Ghami and Latif "Latz" Ayodele, adding emotional weight to his performance in the ring. Joshua emphasized the spiritual aspect of fighting, crediting the support of others and his team for helping him overcome adversity in the ring.

His Last Fight Before the Crash

Joshua's outing against Prenga came after a period away from the ring following his previous bout, a highly publicized crossover fight against a YouTuber-turned-boxer. Joshua's previous outing, 10 days before he was a passenger in the car crash in Nigeria, was a sixth-round stoppage of YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

In that fight, held in Miami, Joshua showed patience early on before stepping up his aggression as the bout progressed, ultimately delivering two knockdowns of Paul in the fifth round before finishing him with a brutal straight right in the sixth. Following that win, Joshua told Netflix's Ariel Helwani in the ring that it "wasn't the best performance," adding, "I wanted to pin him down and hurt him. It took me longer than I expected." Joshua also gave credit to his opponent that night, saying, "Jake Paul did really well and he deserves his props. It takes a real man to do that and he deserves respect for trying and trying and trying. But he came up against a real fighter tonight."

That victory over Paul came after Joshua had rebounded from a stoppage defeat to fellow British heavyweight Daniel Dubois in 2024, with the win over Paul helping set the stage for a potential 2026 showdown with Fury. Joshua entered that fight as a heavy betting favorite, given his experience and skill set as one of the best boxers of his generation, an Olympic gold medalist with career wins over the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Andy Ruiz Jr., Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin.

A Long-Awaited Showdown With Fury Still Looms

The win over Prenga keeps alive one of British boxing's most anticipated potential matchups, a long-discussed all-British heavyweight clash between Joshua and Fury that has been the subject of speculation for years. With both fighters having navigated their own recent career turbulence, Saturday's result was widely viewed as a necessary step for Joshua to keep that fight viable for later this year.

A Career Built on Resilience

Joshua's history in the ring has repeatedly shown a capacity to absorb adversity mid-fight and still find a path to victory, a pattern that dates back to some of his most memorable performances. In his classic 2017 bout against Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium, Joshua was knocked down in the sixth round before recovering to knock Klitschko down twice in the 11th round, ultimately retaining his IBF world heavyweight title and securing the WBA belt in front of 90,000 fans.

That history of overcoming knockdowns and difficult moments mid-fight appears central to how Joshua now frames his career, including Saturday's win over Prenga, which he described not as a worrying sign of decline but as further evidence of the resilience that has defined some of his most significant victories.

With the win over Prenga secured, attention now turns to finalizing the terms and timing of Joshua's expected clash with Fury later this year, a fight that has been years in the making and would represent one of the biggest events in recent British boxing history. For Joshua, Saturday's performance, however unsteady in its opening moments, appears to have only strengthened his own belief that he remains capable of competing at the sport's highest level, even as questions about his durability persist heading into what could be the defining fight of his later career.

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