Anthony Joshua came within inches of suffering one of the biggest upsets of his career before producing the kind of knockout that reminded everyone why he remains one of boxing’s biggest stars. Fighting Albanian heavyweight Kristian Prenga in the main event of “The Comeback” at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia, Joshua absorbed two shocking knockdowns in the opening round before storming back with a violent second-round KO.
The slow-motion replay of the finish tells the entire story. After surviving Prenga’s powerful punches and heavy right hands that had him badly hurt in Round 1, Joshua regained his footwork, established his jab, found his timing and unleashed a perfectly placed right hand followed by another crushing shot that sent Prenga crashing through the ropes. The referee immediately waved off the fight as the Albanian heavyweight lay motionless after the knockout.
From almost being knocked out to delivering the KO
For much of the opening round, it looked as though Joshua’s comeback had fallen apart. Prenga repeatedly found the target with clean power punches, dropping the former heavyweight champion twice and putting the sold-out crowd in Jeddah on edge. It was the kind of round few expected against an opponent who entered as a heavy underdog.
But championship experience made the difference. Joshua stayed composed between rounds, returned to the center of the ring behind a disciplined jab and gradually took control of the exchanges before detonating the fight-ending combination that completely changed the narrative of the night.
The event, promoted by Matchroom Boxing under Eddie Hearn and backed by Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh, was designed as Joshua’s road back to the long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury.
Despite conspiracy theories circulating online after the dramatic comeback, there is no evidence supporting claims that the fight was fixed. Instead, Joshua’s resilience under pressure and his ability to recover from devastating punches before producing a spectacular knockout became the biggest talking point of the night.
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