Anthony Joshua returned to the ring on Saturday, July 25, 2026, with a second-round knockout victory over Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The win keeps Joshua on track for a highly anticipated potential showdown with Tyson Fury.
Joshua was emotional entering the ring, marking his first fight since the passing of two friends. He dedicated the bout to them, with the ring floor and his shorts bearing tributes. Joshua stated that boxing serves as his therapy and that stepping away from the sport was never a consideration.
The fight was Joshua's comeback following a car crash late last year that resulted in the deaths of two close friends and left him hospitalized. He emphasized the importance of this win, stating that his dreams of a fight with Fury would be jeopardized by any other outcome.
"Ultimately, the reality of the matter is there is no future unless I get past this checkpoint on Saturday night," Joshua said prior to the fight. "We've been working since January, working hard, aligning all my stars. I understand there's a big picture. The goal is to conquer the universe, right? But first we must conquer earth."
Joshua, 36, also expressed his ambition to continue boxing until the age of 40 and reclaim world titles, having lost his unified heavyweight belts to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021. "After I deal with Tyson Fury, on to world titles. I accept this will be a tough year and I'm coming up 37 in October but I feel have the strength in every aspect to keep fighting until I'm 40. Boxing's what I do. I'm back. Back to the place where I always find my purpose. Where I'm content."
In preparation for his own potential matchups, Tyson Fury previously competed on July 24, 2026, in Pattaya, Thailand. Fury secured a seventh-round technical knockout victory against Mariusz Wach, improving his professional record to 36-2-1. The fight was largely one-sided.
On the undercard in Jeddah, Sunderland-born boxer Josh Kelly successfully defended his IBF junior middleweight title against Caoimhin Agyarko via unanimous decision, with judges scoring the bout 114-113, 115-112, and 115-11. Despite the win, Kelly described the fight as "messy and hard."