Joshua Shrugs Off Prenga Knockdowns

Anthony Joshua was knocked down twice inside the first round against Kristian Prenga, but has shut down suggestions that he is finished.

Joshua dismissed the durability concerns that have followed him since the knockdowns, framing the recovery as evidence of something rather than a symptom of something else.

"I got back up. That happened in, what, the first 20 seconds of round one? Got back up, took a beating, stood the storm, and come back in round two. Boxing's not pretty,” Joshua

Fighters get knocked down. The question has always been what they do afterward, and Joshua got up, regrouped, and stopped Prenga in the second round. That context is what the durability conversation is actually about, and Joshua knows it. His response was to reframe the entire question.

"If I expect to get in there and expect it to be pretty, I wouldn't get back up because it would be out of my thought process. I know it's gonna be tough in there. I know I'm gonna be up against livewires so — it's not so much about resistance, it's about being in the ring with strong, heavy-handed guys that are live and they want to come and win. Hit me with a good shot. So what? Roll it off, get up, take some more punches, keep going until it's my turn. Let's see who's tough now. Let's see who's the bad boy. Let's see who's rough and ready. I come out on top,” Joshua

Joshua has been on the canvas against Wladimir Klitschko, Vladimir Molina, and Andy Ruiz Jr., and he has won some of those fights and lost others. The pattern is established. Whether Joshua's chin holds against Fury's power is the question that cannot be answered by pointing to a Prenga knockdown recovery.