Anthony Joshua escaped a scare against Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday. The heavyweights headlined the latest Saudi boxing card and major stakes for Joshua and his upcoming bout with Tyson Fury is still on track. Let’s talk boxing.
Joshua-Prenga Results
Anthony Joshua def. Kristian Prenga via second-round KO
Wow, that was much more eventful than we thought it would be. Prenga floored Joshua twice in the first round.
Joshua survived the opening flurry from the upstart Albanian, regained his form in the second frame and destroyed Prenga in the second frame.
As it is, the result should still secure the fight with Fury, but it doesn’t make anyone overly confident about his chances against the Gypsy King.
Hamzah Sheeraz def. Simon Zachenhuber by Majority Decision (115-113, 116-112 and 114-114) Retains IBF super middleweight title
The judge who scored this a draw might have gone to sleep at some point. Zachenhuber proved to be competitive, but Sheeraz’s length and accuracy ruled the day.
Sheeraz appears to be ready for a matchup with the likes of David Benavidez or Dmitry Bivol.
Josh Kelly def. Caoimhin Agyarko by Unanimous Decision (115-112×2, 114-113) and retains IBF super welterweight title
Kelly had a scary outing in this one. Agyarko might have taken this one on some cards and Kelly’s face afterward did not look like a mug of a man who successfully defended his title.
Kelly had a point deducted for punches to the back of Agyarko’s head. He was still able to eek out the win. After the fight, Kelly called out big names like Jaron “Boots” Ennis, but based on this fight, that seems like a recipe for disaster for Kelly.
We’ll see.
Reito Tsutsumi def. Alvino Herrera by Second-Round KO
Tsutsumi looks better every time I see him. After nearly stopping Herrera in the first round with a diverse barrage of power punches, he made quick work of the Mexican in the second frame.
The powerful and accurate young Japanese star remains perfect with another impressive KO win.
Jacob Banks def. Pawel August by Unanimous Decision (80-72×3)
Both men had standout walkout songs. August walked out to Mobb Deep’s Shook Ones while Bank came out to Jay-Z’s Public Service Announcement. In the ring, Jay-Z won. Banks put on a boxing exhibition and looked every bit the part of a man who is close to challenging for a world title.
He took the easy unanimous decision win in the eight-rounder. At 25 years old, the Denmark native seems to have the goods.
Nishant Dev def. Cesar Diaz via First-Round TKO
Dev improved to a perfect 7-0 with a complete destruction of Diaz. The latter was down three times before the referee waved off the remaining time in the eight-round bout.
Dev, who hails from India, appears to have some serious star power. He’s just 25 years old.
Results post here as each bout ends, main event first. Ring-walk timing slides with how the undercard runs, so the later fights may land earlier or later than the estimates below.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Event: Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga, “The Comeback”
- Date and venue: Saturday, July 25, 2026 · Jeddah Superdome, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Main card start: 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. BST / 8 p.m. KSA
- Main-event ring walks: approximately 5:45 p.m. ET / 10:45 p.m. BST
- Broadcast: DAZN pay-per-view, $59.99 in the U.S. and £19.99 in the U.K., included with DAZN Ultimate
- Records: Joshua 29-4 (26 KOs) · Prenga 20-1 (20 KOs)
- Weigh-in: Joshua 251 pounds, Prenga 261.4
- Titles at stake: WBO super middleweight and IBF junior middleweight
- Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga, heavyweight
- Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Simon Zachenhuber, WBO super middleweight title
- Josh Kelly vs. Caoimhin Agyarko, IBF junior middleweight title
- Reito Tsutsumi def. Alvino Herrera via second-round TKO, junior lightweight
- Oleksandr Khyzhniak vs. Lenny Patrach, light heavyweight
- Jacob Bank def. Pawel August via unanimous decision, middleweight
- Nishant Dev def. Cesar Diaz via first-round TKO junior middleweight
- Mikie Tallon def. Orlando Pino — first-round TKO
- Ziyad Al Maayouf def. Frank Lucian Mango via unanimous decision
Joshua-Prenga Full Card and Start Times
The main card opens at 1 p.m. ET and the promotion has penciled Joshua and Prenga for roughly 5:45 p.m. ET. Matchroom has not published a bout-by-bout running sheet, so the times below are estimates spaced across that window rather than posted ring walks.
The bill is billed at 13 bouts, though only nine have been publicly named. My full card and viewing breakdown has the broadcast details.
- 1 p.m. ET — Ziyad Al Maayouf vs. Frank Lucian Mango
- 1:35 p.m. ET — Mikie Tallon vs. Orlando Pino
- 2:10 p.m. ET — Nishant Dev vs. Cesar Diaz, junior middleweight
- 2:45 p.m. ET — Jacob Bank vs. Pawel August, middleweight
- 3:20 p.m. ET — Oleksandr Khyzhniak vs. Lenny Patrach, light heavyweight
- 3:55 p.m. ET — Reito Tsutsumi vs. Alvino Herrera, junior lightweight
- 4:30 p.m. ET — Josh Kelly vs. Caoimhin Agyarko, IBF junior middleweight title
- 5:05 p.m. ET — Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Simon Zachenhuber, WBO super middleweight title
- 5:45 p.m. ET — Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga, heavyweight
What’s At Stake For Anthony Joshua?
Fury already handled his end. He stopped Mariusz Wach after seven rounds in Pattaya on Friday, which leaves Joshua as the only remaining obstacle to the biggest fight British boxing can currently make.
The margin between winning and losing is wide. The margin between winning well and winning badly is not. Joshua came in at 251 pounds, his heaviest in years and 7.6 up from the 243.4 he carried in December, which reads as a deliberate play for power against a bigger man. He also trained alongside Oleksandr Usyk’s camp for this one.
A win that takes rounds, or a win where Prenga lands clean, changes the conversation about November without changing the record. The weigh-in and ring-walk breakdown has the rest of the numbers, and Fury has already shown he will work the microphone at Joshua’s expense given the opening.
How Good Is Kristian Prenga?
The record says 20-1 with 20 knockouts, which means the Albanian has never won a decision. He is 6-foot-5, fights out of Edgewater, New Jersey, and rides a 14-fight win streak into the Superdome.
The knock on Prenga is the strength of his opposition — or the lack thereof. His last three came inside the opening round against opponents nobody would confuse with a ranked heavyweight, and his most recent outing was a February main event in Atlantic City. He has not shared a ring with anyone carrying Joshua’s size, speed and pedigree at once.
What he does bring is genuine one-punch power and ten pounds on the former champion. Saturday is also a wall-to-wall boxing day, with Errol Spence Jr. and Tim Tszyu in Sydney running after Jeddah wraps.
I’ll be providing live results for Spence-Tszyu too, so lock me in.
