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If you blinked, you missed the wildest two rounds of Anthony Joshua’s career. As I previewed on Friday, this was a weekend that had everything.
If you blinked, you missed the wildest two rounds of Anthony Joshua’s career.
Joshua Survives Two Knockdowns, Obliterates Prenga in Round 2
Let’s start with the moment nobody expected. Anthony Joshua walked into the ring in Jeddah as a -3333 favorite against Kristian Prenga, a decent Albanian heavyweight with a 20-1 record but zero wins over anyone near Joshua’s level. The script was straightforward: Joshua boxes smart, gets rounds, looks good, calls out Fury.
What actually happened was pure chaos.
Prenga dropped Joshua in the opening seconds of the first round. A clean right hand sent AJ to the canvas, and the Jeddah Superdome went silent. Then it happened again — Prenga caught him with another shot and Joshua was down for the second time before the first three minutes were up. According to Bloody Elbow’s ringside report, Joshua appeared to signal some sort of leg issue after the first knockdown, making the recovery even more remarkable.
Then came the second round. Whatever Joshua’s corner told him, it worked. He came out composed, found his range, and uncorked a thudding right hand that flattened Prenga for the count. A trademark Joshua knockout — but only after he’d stared into the abyss twice.
The USA Today recap captured it perfectly: after the second knockdown, Joshua stuck out his tongue and smiled before delivering the fight-ending shot. That’s not arrogance — that’s a fighter who’s been through the fire and knows who he is.
Joshua moves to 34-4. Prenga drops to 21-2. But the story isn’t the record — it’s the resilience.
Fury Does Enough: Stops Wach in Seven in Pattaya
The other half of the heavyweight equation played out a day earlier across the world in Pattaya, Thailand. Tyson Fury stopped Mariusz Wach after seven rounds, with the 46-year-old Pole retiring on his stool. It was Fury’s first stoppage win since December 2022 against Derek Chisora — a drought of nearly four years.
The fight had no live broadcast, a bizarre detail for a man who’s supposed to be fighting in the biggest event in British boxing history. Reports from ringside and social media clips painted the picture: Fury, weighing around 265 pounds according to reports, used his size and reach to control the fight, with Wach’s corner eventually deciding their man had taken enough punishment.
Let’s be honest — Fury beating a 46-year-old Wach (who’d lost four of his last five) in an untelevised bout tells us very little about where Fury is at. But it tells us he’s healthy, he’s active, and he’s cleared the final hurdle before the Joshua fight becomes real.
The Superfight: Fury vs Joshua — When and Where?
Eddie Hearn has already made his position clear: the Fury-Joshua showdown must take place in the UK under the terms of the fight deal signed three months ago, as covered in our midweek notebook. Joshua himself warned Fury this week that he wants to “try and end him” — and after surviving two knockdowns in the first round, you believe him.
The heavyweight picture has shifted significantly since Usyk vacated all his belts in June, leaving the division open for a new king to emerge. A Fury-Joshua winner would be in prime position — either as a full champion or as the consensus top dog in a suddenly wide-open division.
The question now isn’t if — it’s where and when. And if Hearn gets his way, Wembley Stadium will be the venue in late 2026.
Tszyu Outworks Spence, Sends a Legend Into Retirement
In Sydney, Tim Tszyu delivered a career-defining performance, outpointing Errol Spence Jr. by unanimous decision with scorecards of 118-110, 117-111, and 117-111. The win was comprehensive — not a robbery, not a controversial gift — just a younger, busier, hungrier fighter outworking a legend who had been away too long.
Spence, who hadn’t fought since his 2023 loss to Terence Crawford, jumped two weight classes to middleweight for this assignment. To his credit, he made it through 12 rounds and showed flashes of the brilliance that made him a unified welterweight champion. But Tszyu was the fresher man, the more active fighter, and ultimately the better boxer on the night.
And then came the announcement. In his post-fight interview, Spence said: “Now it’s time to go home with my family and start a new life.” Asked to clarify, he confirmed: “Yeah, for sure, man. I got my faculties intact. My money is good, it’s working for itself. Everything’s good, man.”
The future Hall of Famer retires at 28-2 (22 KOs). A unified welterweight champion, a survivor of a near-fatal car crash, and one of the finest American fighters of his generation walked away with his health and his dignity intact. You have to respect that.
Sheeraz and Kelly: Two Titleholders, Two Different Questions
On the Joshua undercard, two champions retained but neither looked dominant.
Hamzah Sheeraz escaped with a majority decision over Simon Zachenhuber (114-114, 115-113, 116-112) — a performance described by Boxing247 as being “booed by the Saudi crowd.” Sheeraz is now slated to sit ringside for Canelo vs. Mbilli on Oct. 31, but after this performance, a fight with the Canelo-Mbilli winner feels a long way off.
Josh Kelly went the other direction — he had to dig deep. The IBF super welterweight champion defeated Caoimhin Agyarko by unanimous decision (114-113, 115-112, 115-112), but only after surviving a spirited late comeback from the Irish challenger. Kelly was deducted a point for a rabbit punch, looked marked up under both eyes, and needed every bit of his experience to close the show. He says he wants Jaron “Boots” Ennis next. Based on this performance, that’s a dangerous ask.
Filipino Corner: Paradero vs. Cuarto, and the Local Scene
Back home, two Filipino former world title challengers squared off as Robert Paradero faced Rene Mark Cuarto for the PBF Silver flyweight title. Paradero, the former WBO Asia Pacific Youth minimumweight champion, and Cuarto, the former IBF minimumweight world champion, delivered an all-Filipino showdown that’s the lifeblood of the local scene.
It’s frustrating that fights like these — two established Filipino boxers with genuine name value — don’t get the broadcast deals they deserve, lost in the noise of a global boxing weekend. But the Philippines keeps producing fighters, and the pipeline from local cards to world title shots remains one of the sport’s great storytelling threads. Charly Suarez proved that last week with his 151-second demolition of Manuel Avila — the next star is always coming.
Other Weekend News
Stephen Fulton Jr. missed weight for the second straight fight — this time by 6.5 pounds — forcing the cancellation of his bout against Liam Wilson. It’s a worrying pattern for a former two-division champion who once beat Naoya Inoue’s mandatory. At this rate, Fulton’s biggest fight might be with the scale.
Canelo vs. Mbilli has been officially rescheduled for Oct. 31 in Riyadh. Canelo said he needed to “attend to family first” before committing to camp. Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) steps up to face the biggest name in the sport. It’s a dangerous fight for Canelo — Mbilli is young, undefeated, and durable.
Jai Opetaia is suing the IBF, claiming the sanctioning body stripped him of his cruiserweight title as part of a conspiracy after he signed with Zuffa Boxing. The legal battle could reshape how sanctioning bodies interact with fighters in the promotion era.
Bottom Line
July 25, 2026, will go down as one of the defining weekends of the year in boxing. Joshua reminded us why we watch — for the drama, the resilience, the comeback. Fury proved he’s still ticking. Tszyu announced himself as a world-class operator. And Errol Spence Jr., one of the finest welterweights of the modern era, walked away on his own terms.
If you’re Filipino like me, there’s something deeply familiar about Joshua’s journey — the willingness to get back up when the world thinks you’re finished. It’s the same spirit that made Pacquiao, Donaire, and Casimero household names. Resilience isn’t a strategy; it’s a character trait.
The heavyweight superfight is closer than ever. The middleweight division has a new contender. And the sport keeps reminding us why we love it.