Joshua's Team Shuts Down Prenga Conspiracy as Fury Fight Looms

Anthony Joshua walked into serious trouble against Kristian Prenga, hit the canvas twice inside the opening three minutes, then flipped the whole thing on its head with a second-round stoppage. It was the kind of finish that keeps his long-rumoured showdown with Tyson Fury alive for later this year. It was also the kind of finish that, predictably, got the internet talking.

The 29-4 (26 KO) heavyweight survived a nightmare start before landing the shot that ended matters. But the drama of that turnaround has drawn suspicion, with broadcaster Simon Jordan among the louder voices suggesting something about the sequence didn't add up — a fighter who dropped Joshua twice suddenly looking like a different man in round two.

The Camp Fires Back

Joshua's team wasn't interested in humouring it. Responding to Jordan's theory, a spokesperson dismissed the idea with heavy sarcasm, joking that they must have also instructed Prenga to walk face-first into a punch weighing a ton and a half. They added that everyone's entitled to their theories — including a friend who reckons the Earth is flat and space doesn't exist — but they'd rather talk about what actually happened in the ring than someone's imagination.

It's a blunt way of closing the door, and it does the job. Comebacks from early knockdowns aren't new in heavyweight boxing, and Joshua's power has never been the question mark on his résumé. His last outing was a sixth-round knockout of Jake Paul, and 26 of his 29 wins have come inside the distance. When he lands clean, big men fall. That part is verifiable.

With the fix chatter parked, the focus swings to Fury. The 36-2-1 (25 KO) former champion, ranked #3, handled his own tune-up on Friday, forcing Mariusz Wach to retire after seven rounds in Thailand. Both men have now cleared their warm-up assignments, which is the entire point of nights like these.

Prenga, meanwhile, didn't leave empty-handed. The Albanian's showing — dropping Joshua twice on the biggest stage of his life — has already earned him a callout from Dave Allen, so there's a future fight waiting if he wants it. For Joshua, though, everything now points one direction: Fury, and the fight British boxing has been circling for years.