Anthony Joshua knocked out Kristian Prenga at 2:43 of the second round on Saturday, July 25, 2026, at Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Joshua had to recover from a wild first-round scare before closing the DAZN PPV main event. Prenga hurt him with a right uppercut, drove him back into the ropes, and later forced a counted knockdown when Joshua touched the canvas. One round later, Joshua steadied behind the jab and finished Prenga with a right hand.
The win moved Joshua to 29-4 with 26 knockouts. Prenga, who entered at 20-1 with 20 knockouts, fell to 20-2. There were no scorecards because Joshua ended it before the fight could reach the third round.
The result kept Joshua’s late-2026 Tyson Fury path alive after Prenga nearly broke the plan open in the first round.
Round By Round
Round 1: Prenga shocked the building immediately with a right uppercut, then followed Joshua into the ropes. Referee Luis Pabon did not count that rope sequence, but Prenga kept pressing and Joshua was later ruled down after touching the canvas in close.
Joshua got up quickly, grabbed, smothered, and bought time. The moment looked uncomfortably familiar after his Daniel Dubois loss, but he made it through the round without letting Prenga stack the damage into a full collapse.
Round 2: Joshua still did not look completely steady at the start of the second and clutched at his left thigh in the early seconds. Then he began to fire straight shots and push Prenga backward.
The finish came when Joshua touched him with the jab and uncorked a right hand. Prenga went down hard and did not beat the count.
https://twitter.com/MatchroomBoxing/status/2081148175423828389
Joshua Leaves Jeddah With Questions And The Win
Joshua did not get a clean, stress-free return, but the knockout protected his place in the heavyweight picture. A loss to Prenga would have changed the Fury push immediately; instead, Joshua left with the result he needed.
Prenga deserves credit for making the first round dangerous. His 100-percent knockout record was not just trivia, and Joshua had to prove he could gather himself while hurt. Once he did, the difference in finishing quality showed up fast.
The result also connects to the late-2026 Joshua vs. Fury timeline, Joshua’s recent comments about cutting off distractions, and Canelo Alvarez’s warning about Jake Paul chasing Joshua.
Joshua still has questions after Prenga hurt him that badly, but the outcome is straightforward: he survived the scare, produced the knockout, and left Jeddah with his bigger plans intact.
