Anthony Joshua v Kristian Prenga: heavyweight boxing – live

Key events14m agoPreamblePreambleAnthony Joshua’s first fight of 2026 – a planned tune-up before a showdown with Tyson Fury – comes against exactly the type of opponent you’d expect. Kristian Prenga is a strapping 6ft 5in Albanian with an eye-catching 20-1 (all 20 wins by KO) record that contains a sum total of zero elite opponents.But hold on, Prenga ultras might ask: when exactly did Britain’s former two-time world champion last see off a real heavyweight threat himself? Joshua’s last three fights are a sixth-round stoppage of YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, a brutal KO loss to Daniel Dubois and a two-round demolition of mixed-martial artist Francis Ngannou. You have to go back to December 2023 to find the last time AJ defeated a proven heavyweight contender in the shape of Otto Wallin.Joshua is also returning to the ring after a fatal car crash in Nigeria last December that killed two of his close friends. Although he’s recovered from his injuries, it’s understandable that the 36-year-old’s future in the sport was questioned after such a traumatic experience. No wonder he wants to shake off the ring rust before a long-awaited bout against Fury.Prenga is a whopping underdog against a fighter with AJ’s credentials. An Olympic gold medallist who’s beaten Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin, Wladimir Klitschko – and gone 24 pretty competitive rounds with Oleksandr Usyk – should have no problem polishing off a foe who’s only gone beyond six rounds once. (And that was when Prenga lost an eight-round decision in his fifth pro fight.)This is heavyweight boxing, so you never 100% know. But it would be a major upset if even the late-career version of AJ were to be seriously troubled by Prenga in Jeddah.Ring walks are – apparently – at 10.52pm (BST). Lots of updates before then! Feel free to email your thoughts.Anthony Joshua (left) and Kristian Prenga face off at Friday’s weigh-in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Photograph: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters