Anthony Joshua was knocked down twice – the first happening just 20 seconds into his comeback – before recovering to dramatically stop Kristian Prenga in the second round in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The British heavyweight was fighting for the first time since the December car crash that claimed the lives of close friends Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele, and he was sensationally rocked by a huge uppercut in the opening round.
He hit the canvas again later in the round and looked on the verge of one of the biggest shock defeats in heavyweight history, with the long-awaited Tyson Fury fight hanging by a thread.
But Joshua produced one of the great escapes of his career. He unleashed his right hand in the second round, with the final shot sending Albanian Prenga crashing down and forcing the referee to halt the contest.
There had been speculation fellow Briton Fury might make a appearance despite insisting he would not attend.
But the master of mind games stayed true to his word about staying away, with Fury nowhere to be seen 24 hours after his own warm-up win over Mariusz Wach in Thailand.
“I am the meanest, most vicious champion. Noboby can stop me. He is no Oleksandr [Usyk],” Joshua said, when asked about the prospect of fighting Fury.
“All jokes aside, there is two sides. One is the fighter and the other is respect. I respect everything he has done and everything that he has achieved, but as a fighting person, we’re here now. I hope the fans will be in for a lovely treat.”
Contracts have been signed, but the venue and date for a fight more than a decade in the making are still unknown.
This chaotic night, however, belonged to Joshua in a victory forged through adversity during the most difficult months of his life.
More to follow.
