Anthony Joshua faces Kristian Prenga tonight in what is likely to be his final warm-up for a super-fight with Tyson Fury.
Joshua last fought in December 2025, knocking out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in the sixth round of a controversial mismatch that took place in Miami.
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Soon after that, Joshua endured serious trauma outside of the ring as he suffered minor injuries as a passenger in a serious car accident in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his closest friends and long-time team members, Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele.
In preparation for his return to boxing, the 36-year-old admitted that the tragic incident still had not sunk in.
"It's tough, every time I think about it, it hurts,” Joshua told BBC Sport. "Even talking about it no... pictures… it hurts but I keep my mind occupied, you know.
"If I stop, you let it sink in and I'm not ready for it to sink in yet."
Without looking beyond Prenga, Joshua has admitted his dream is to have his hand raised in Jeddah before setting up a showdown with Fury, the most long-awaited and lucrative clash in British boxing history.
A deal for Fury vs Joshua to take place later in 2026 - potentially November at Wembley Stadium - is still yet to be signed and sealed, with the self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’ continuing his comeback from another retirement by stopping Mariusz Wach in dominant fashion in Thailand on Friday.
Fury - who also brushed aside Arslanbek Makhmudov on his return in April - was initially expected to travel from Thailand to Saudi Arabia for the Joshua vs Prenga fight, but insisted after forcing Wach to retire on his stool before the eighth round that he will not be in attendance as he instead returns home to see his family.
The little-known Prenga is making an enormous jump up in competition to face Joshua and is coming off a first-round stoppage win over Joe Jones in Atlantic City in February.
The New Jersey-based Albanian heavyweight has lost just one of his 21 professional fights to date and is unbeaten since 2017, putting together a 16-bout winning streak - all by stoppage.
However, he has never fought anyone even remotely close to the quality and stature of former two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua and is a massive underdog this weekend.
Joshua vs Prenga fight date and venue
Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga takes place tonight, Saturday, July 25, 2026, at the Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The fight was moved from Riyadh to Jeddah last month, having initially been scheduled to coincide with the Esports World Cup, which has since switched from Riyadh to Paris.
Joshua vs Prenga fight time
The show begins at 6pm BST UK time, which is 8pm local time in Jeddah. Main event ring walks are expected at 11pm BST.
How to watch Joshua vs Prenga
TV channel and live stream: The event is being broadcast live on DAZN pay-per-view at a cost of £19.99.
Live blog: Follow the whole fight card as it happens on Saturday night with Standard Sport’s live blog.
Joshua vs Prenga fight card
There are two world title fights involving British champions on Saturday’s undercard, with Hamzah Sheeraz providing the first defence of the WBO super-middleweight title he picked up against Alem Begic on the Oleksandr Usyk-Rico Verhoeven bill in Egypt in May, facing Germany’s Simon Zachenhuber.
Josh Kelly also puts his IBF super-welterweight title on the line for the first time against Ireland’s Caoimhin Agyarko.
Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga
Hamzah Sheeraz (c) vs Simon Zachenhuber - for the WBO super-middleweight title
Josh Kelly (c) vs Caoimhin Agyarko - for the IBF super-welterweight title
Reito Tsutsumi vs Alvino Herrera
Jacob Bank vs Pawel August
Nishant Dev vs Cesar Diaz
Joshua vs Prenga prediction
Joshua was never in any danger of suffering a monumental upset during his fight with Jake Paul six months ago. In fact, he barely even broke a sweat before eventually knocking out the YouTuber-turned-boxer with a devastating right hand.
However, Joshua did look rusty, particularly in the early rounds, and a repeat could be on the cards here, especially when factoring in the length of time it has been since his last proper competitive fight - a devastating fifth-round knockout defeat by Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September 2024.
That said, he should make very light work of the lesser-known Prenga and send an equally emphatic response to Fury, who had no issue overcoming Wach 24 hours prior.
While Prenga has lost only once previously, this is a monumental step up in class and we expect him to succumb to Joshua’s power in a likely early stoppage.
Joshua to win by early knockout.
Joshua vs Prenga weigh-in results
Joshua weighed in at 251lbs on Friday - 7.6lbs heavier than for his win over Paul in December. He was 10.4lbs lighter than Prenga, who tipped the scales at 261.4lbs.
Joshua vs Prenga odds
Joshua to win: 1/25
Prenga to win: 12/1
Draw: 50/1
Joshua to win on points/by decision: 7/1
Joshua to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification: 1/8
Prenga to win on points/by decision: 40/1
Prenga to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification: 14/1
Odds via UK betting sites (subject to change).
