Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) last competed in December, brutally knocking out Jake Paul in a high-profile collision on Netflix. Saturday’s comeback bout comes just seven months after the fatal car crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of Joshua’s closest friends and nearly took the former champion’s own. If victorious, Joshua, 36, is expected to vault into a long-awaited clash with Tyson Fury, who defeated Mariusz Wach on Friday.
Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs) steps into the biggest spotlight of his career at age 35. The Albanian heavyweight has finished all 20 of his professional victories by stoppage, and enters the weekend riding a 14-fight win streak since suffering his lone career defeat at the hands of Giovanni Auriemma in 2017.
A relaxed Anthony Joshua laughed with reporters, thanked fans for making the trip and even encouraged a sizeable Albanian contingent to bring their “energy” for the British heavyweight’s comeback fight in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Joshua, 36, faces Albanian puncher Kristian Prenga in his first fight since the car crash in Nigeria last December which claimed the lives of two of his closest friends and members of his team, Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele.
Victory would move Joshua to the brink of an all-British heavyweight showdown with Tyson Fury, as long as ‘The Gypsy King’ also wins his warm-up fight against Mariusz Wach in Thailand on Friday.
“We’ve been working since January, working hard, keeping my head down and aligning all my stars,” Joshua said at Thursday’s news conference in Jeddah.
“I’m fully focused. I understand there’s a big picture. The goal is to conquer the universe, right? But first we must conquer Earth. And this is my target here.”
Heavyweight: Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga
WBO super middleweight title: Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Simon Zachenhuber
IBF super welterweight title: Josh Kelly vs. Caoimhin Agyarko
Super featherweight: Alvino Herrera vs. Reito Tsutsumi
Super middleweight: Pawel August vs. Jacob Bank
Super welterweight: Cesar Diaz vs. Nishant Dev
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Preliminary card (9 a.m. ET)
Light heavyweight: Lenny Patrach vs. Oleksandr Khyzniak
Super lightweight: Frank Mango vs. Ziyad Almaayouf
Flyweight: Orlando Pino vs. Mikie Tallon
Super featherweights: Lydon Chircop vs. Mohammed Alakel
Featherweight: Efren Besalduch vs. Sultan Almohammed
Middleweight: Brian Castellano vs. Omar Hikal
Super lightweight: Bryan Zapata vs. Mohamed Moubarak.
