Joshua Survives Scare To Stop Prenga

Anthony Joshua stopped Kristian Prenga in the second round in Jeddah on Saturday night, but had to climb off the canvas twice in the first to get there.

Prenga — brought in as a stepping stone toward the Tyson Fury fight pencilled in for November — put Joshua down with an uppercut inside the first twenty seconds. He knocked him down again before the round was out.

Joshua then hurt Prenga with a jab before the end of the first, seized momentum, and carried it into the second. Prenga was unable to continue when Joshua closed the show early in round two, and the fight was over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrPiIT23Jb8

The manner of the knockdowns will be the conversation heading into whatever comes next. At 36, returning for the first time since a car accident in Nigeria last December that claimed the lives of two close friends, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, Joshua was always going to carry more emotional weight into the fight.

Whether it is enough against Fury is the question November will answer. Fury fought Mariusz Wach and also came through with a stoppage win. All eyes are now on Joshua vs Fury.