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LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 01: Anthony Joshua faces off against Kristian Prenga after a press conference ahead of the Anthony Joshua v Kristian Prenga fight at Exhibition White City on June 01, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Anthony Joshua returns to the ring on Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, facing Albanian-American club fighter Kristian Prenga as a tune-up for a likely (?) fight with Tyson Fury later this year.
Being honest up front, this is not the most interesting matchup on paper, but we’ll take a look at it anyway. Does Prenga have any hope for an upset, or will AJ plow through en route to Fury?
Joshua vs Prenga: Recent Form
by Scott Christ
Now 36, Anthony Joshua (29-4, 26 KO) has been up and down and over and out in his professional career. He’s been at the top, one of the biggest money men of a generation, a massive draw and someone whose every move as a professional has been obsessed over by fans and haters alike. His pro debut was a main event at the O2 in London, for heaven’s sake, because he won an Olympic gold medal.
Everything about AJ screamed “star” from the start. He’s got the look, got the power, he’s not Oleksandr Usyk in the skills department but he’s not a fumbling clod, either. I mean, Tyson Fury might say that, but Tyson Fury’s assessment of others’ skills has been incredibly questionable over the years. This is a man who was certain Nathan Gorman was set to give Daniel Dubois the business in 2019. Said Jared Anderson was the future of the heavyweight division. Called Usyk a “middleweight” before losing to him twice. And so on.
But we’re past the days when Joshua’s peak level is the discussion, including his best wins and most of his losses. After his second loss to Usyk in 2022, Joshua and Eddie Hearn have been very deliberate in their choice of opposition. Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin in 2023, under the guise of “these will help AJ get better,” but they were just check-cashing. He showed a bit more aggression by the fight, at least.
Then they struck while an iron was hot on Francis Ngannou, who had given Tyson Fury a lot harder a fight than expected in 2023. Joshua did what a top-level pro boxer should do against an MMA fighter-turned-novice boxer with big dreams, as he didn’t faff about or pad rounds for the benefit of a broadcast and making people feel they “got their money’s worth,” and instead put Ngannou’s brain on Neptune in round two and went home.
The loss to Daniel Dubois in 2024 was also a deliberate choice, just a riskier one. I loved that fight, and I don’t think less of Joshua for it. It was a tremendous firefight where AJ kept getting drilled and dropped but showed a lot of heart to keep fighting, but it looked like a 34-year-old Joshua fighting a younger version of himself, and the end result was the younger version just had too much enthusiasm and firepower.
The Jake Paul fight at the end of 2025 was nothing. AJ hasn’t had a real fight since September 2024. That might still be a viable belief after this one, too, if and when he actually fights Tyson Fury later this year.
I’m guessing I didn’t look over as much of the available footage on Kristian Prenga (20-1, 20 KO) as Patrick did, which he’ll tell you about in a moment, but what I saw didn’t indicate some hidden Albanian-New Jerseyan gem. He’s not a completely unskilled boxer or anything, but what I could see didn’t look like a guy who’s going to be any sort of real threat at this level of the sport, or even two steps down from this level. He’s 35 and has been fighting at the Raddison in Detroit and Atlantic City casinos and the former ECW Arena in Philly for a reason.
Joshua vs Prenga: Style Matchup
by Patrick Stumberg
Prenga immediately endeared himself to me by having a self-titled, easily discovered YouTube channel stocked with fights. I don’t watch as much tape as I did during my MMA days, but I pored over enough portrait-mode handycam footage buried in obscure Facebook pages that I’ll accept any crumb of accessibility with grace.
Not sure why he elected to post his knockout of Santander Silgado, though. I’ve watched the finish frame-by-frame and I’m still not sure whether it was a forearm to the temple or a straight-up phantom punch.
That footage paints a prettier picture than “20-1 club fighter with a boatload of first-round finishes” would suggest. He’s big, he’s fit, he has a solid jab, and he works the body with greater aplomb than the vast majority of big men. I’m not saying he’s some diamond in the rough, but just based on the eye test against limited opposition, I could see him batting third on a ProBox show opposite some Viktor Faust type.
Problem is, he’s fighting Anthony Joshua.
While “AJ” gets his share of grief and may have aged out of true elite status, the fact remains that he’s a top-notch, well-rounded operator with one of the stronger resumes among active big men. No amount of clobbering janitors in the basement of Big Al’s Slightly Used Prophylatics could have prepared Prenga for this.
That shiny 100% knockout record suggests a puncher’s chance, but even if you don’t share my belief that Joshua’s fragility is a bit overstated, I’m not convinced Prenga actually hits all that hard. He couldn’t put a dent in Joey Dawejko through four rounds, only getting the finish when Dawejko janked his left arm throwing a body shot.
Prenga doesn’t really do anything wrong. He just doesn’t do anything well enough to justify picking him over a decorated former champion who had his first title fight before Prenga ever got paid to punch someone in the face.
Joshua vs Prenga Predictions: Who will win?
Scott Christ: I expect Prenga will come and try his best, but we’re talking about massively different levels. The only potential intrigue here is that it’s the heavyweight division, and if a 6’5”, 260ish lb guy cracks you on the chin, good chance you’re going down, even if his KO percentage does not really match his actual punching power.
But Prenga is 35 years old and has spent his entire 10 years as a pro fighting nobody better than Willie Jake Jr or Joey Dawejko. Reality comes knocking 9.9999999 times out of 10 in this sort of matchup — and yes, it’s that sort of matchup. It’s not anything better. It’s not a “9 out of 10 times” situation. It’s not that good. Anthony Joshua by TKO in Round 2
Patrick Stumberg: With all due respect to Prenga, I feel like we’ll get a somewhat truncated version of Joshua’s fight with Paul. Joshua could probably just come out and smash Prenga to bits in the opening seconds, but there’s so much at stake that he’ll likely take a few rounds to establish the jab before dropping the hammer.
Despite having a great frame for the division and sound fundamentals, the people who know Prenga best elected to keep him on the glorified smoker circuit for 10 years. They clearly think that’s the best place for him, so who am I to argue? Anthony Joshua by TKO in Round Four
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