Anthony Joshua suffered two knockdowns - the first after just 20 seconds - before recovering to stop Kristian Prenga in the second round of his comeback fight in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The British heavyweight was fighting for the first time since surviving a December car crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of his close friends Sina Ghami and Latif 'Latz' Ayodele.

Joshua was rocked by a huge uppercut from underdog Prenga in the opening round and hit the canvas again, looking on the verge of a shock defeat with the long-awaited Tyson Fury fight hanging by a thread. But Joshua produced a dramatic escape, unleashing his right hand in round two to send Prenga crashing down.

"It's more than punch power. That was spirit, that was Latz, that was Sina," said Joshua, 36, choking up. Contracts for a Fury fight are signed but venue and date unknown. Fury, who had a warm-up win over Mariusz Wach in Thailand, did not attend.

Prenga, with 20 knockouts from 20 victories, had Joshua down twice before experience and emotion took over. Joshua drew Prenga onto a jab before uncorking a crushing right hand. This was Joshua's first test against a recognised professional since Daniel Dubois stopped him in September 2024.