Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga: Briton suffers two knockdowns in first round but wins in second

Anthony Joshua was knocked down twice, the first in just 20 seconds, before rallying to stop Kristian Prenga in dramatic fashion in the second round of his comeback fight in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

It was the British heavyweight’s first fight since surviving the car crash in Nigeria in December that claimed the lives of his close friends Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele.

He was thrillingly rocked by a huge uppercut in the opening round and crashed to the canvas again later in the round.

At this point, he appeared to be on the verge of one of the biggest shock defeats in heavyweight history, with the long-awaited Tyson Fury fight hanging by a thread.

But Joshua pulled off one of the biggest escapes of his career and now the fight continues.

In the second round, he released his right hand and in the final blow, Albanian Prenga fell to the ground, forcing the referee to stop the contest.

“It’s more than just punching power. It was spirit, it was Latz, it was Sinai, it was families. It hurts even to talk about it. It’s been hard,” Joshua, 36, said.

He choked up, turning away from the microphone and adding: “This is my brothers. I don’t want to talk about it.”

There was speculation that Briton Fury might attend, although he insisted he would not.

But the master of mind games remained true to his word and Fury was nowhere to be seen just 24 hours after his warm-up win over Mariusz Wach in Thailand.

Joshua said of the possibility of fighting Fury: “I respect everything he’s done and everything he’s achieved, but as a fighter, we’re here now. I hope the fans are pleasantly surprised.”

Contracts have been signed, but the location and date of the fight, which has been in the works for over a decade, are still unknown.

But this chaotic night belonged to Joshua in hard-earned victory during the hardest months of his life.

More to follow.