AJ is back. After the toughest year of his life, Anthony Joshua returns to the ring on Saturday 25 July 2026. The opponent is Albanian heavyweight Kristian Prenga. The venue is Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. And waiting on the other side of it sits the biggest fight in British boxing history: a signed showdown with Tyson Fury, locked in for later in 2026.
Here is everything you need on the Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga card. The full undercard. The UK start time. How to watch in the UK. The latest Joshua vs Prenga odds. Plus what the Fury fight means for AJ’s comeback.
When is Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga?
Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga takes place on Saturday 25 July 2026. The fight is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, part of the summer Riyadh Season schedule. It is a 12-round heavyweight contest. No belts are on the line. This is a comeback fight, plain and simple, designed to shake off the ring rust before the Fury blockbuster.
It marks Joshua’s first fight since stopping Jake Paul inside six rounds in December 2025. And his first proper test since the brutal knockout loss to Daniel Dubois at Wembley back in September 2024.
Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga Full Card
The full card for Joshua vs Prenga in Riyadh is still taking shape. Here is the headline bout plus the confirmed running order so far. Expect more undercard fights to be added in the build-up.
Main Card
- Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga – Heavyweight, 12 rounds
- Further undercard bouts – To be confirmed
Card subject to change. Undercard to be confirmed closer to fight night.
Who is Kristian Prenga?
Most British fans had never heard the name before this fight was announced. So who is Kristian Prenga? He is a 35-year-old Albanian heavyweight, fighting out of New Jersey. The record reads 20 wins, 1 loss. And here is the eye-catching part. Every single one of those 20 wins has come by knockout. A 100 percent KO ratio.
But context matters. Prenga has built that record against journeymen and regional opposition. No ranked contenders. No world-level names. He has never even been scheduled for a 12-round fight before this one. His sole defeat came narrowly on points, over eight rounds, back in 2017. At six-foot-five and over 260 pounds, he is a big unit, slightly heavier than Joshua, and that is no accident. The size is meant to mimic what AJ will face against Fury.
Headline Fight: Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga
Anthony Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) goes in as the heavy favourite. And rightly so. He is the 2012 Olympic gold medallist. A two-time unified heavyweight world champion. A man who has shared the ring with Usyk, Ruiz, Klitschko, Ngannou, and Dubois. The level gap between him and Prenga is enormous.
That said, this is not a gimme. Prenga punches. Hard. Twenty knockouts from twenty wins tells its own story, and Joshua has been stopped before, by Dubois most recently. AJ has also not boxed competitively at heavyweight world level since that Wembley defeat, with only the Jake Paul crossover bout in between. Ring rust is real. The job here is simple. Look sharp, get rounds or get a statement knockout, and stay unmarked for Fury.
It has been a hard road back. Joshua was involved in a car crash in Lagos on 29 December 2025 that killed his two close friends, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele. He sustained minor injuries himself. For a while it was unclear whether he would fight again at all. He confirmed his return in an emotional video a month later. This comeback carries weight far beyond the ring.
Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga Odds
Anthony Joshua is the overwhelming favourite in the Joshua vs Prenga betting. No surprise there given the gulf in class. The market expects AJ to win, and to win by knockout, with the only real question being which round it comes in.
Prenga is a significant outsider on the bout winner market. The interest for punters lies less in who wins and more in how. Method of victory and round betting are where the value sits for a fight like this.
For the latest Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga odds, round betting, and method of victory markets, check out all our sports betting markets.
For a full breakdown of every market on AJ’s fights plus his complete record and fight history, check out our dedicated Anthony Joshua odds page.
Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua: The Fight That Changes Everything
Here is the real reason this fight matters. Prenga is a warm-up. The main event of Joshua’s year, and arguably of British boxing this decade, is Tyson Fury.
It is signed. Turki Alalshikh confirmed it. So did Eddie Hearn. Fury vs Joshua, the all-British heavyweight superfight that fans have waited the best part of ten years for, is locked in for the fourth quarter of 2026. Likely October or November. And it will stream live on Netflix, putting it in front of a global audience of hundreds of millions.
Two former two-time world champions. Both British. Both at the back end of their careers but still box office. They have circled each other for years, with talks collapsing again and again, never quite getting over the line. Now it is done. Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs) returned from his fifth retirement to beat Arslanbek Makhmudov in April 2026 and is expected to take his own warm-up fight in August before the showdown.
There is one catch for AJ. He has to get through Prenga first. A loss, or even a bad injury, and the Fury fight is off. That is the pressure sitting underneath what looks on paper like a routine night in Riyadh.
How to Watch Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga in the UK
Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga is live in the UK on DAZN. The card streams through the DAZN app and platform, available on Smart TVs, mobiles, tablets, games consoles, and web browsers. This one is not on Sky or TNT Sports. It is a DAZN show.
Because the fight is in Riyadh, the timing works out well for UK fans. No brutal early hours this time. The DAZN broadcast is expected to start around 5pm BST, with the Joshua vs Prenga ringwalks expected at approximately 11pm BST on the Saturday night. Far kinder than the usual Las Vegas all-nighter.
Joshua vs Prenga UK Viewing Details
- Date: Saturday 25 July 2026
- Venue: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- UK Broadcaster: DAZN (app and platform)
- Broadcast start: Approximately 5pm BST
- Main event ringwalks: Approximately 11pm BST
- Main Event: Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga (Heavyweight, 12 rounds)
Start times are subject to change and will be confirmed by DAZN closer to fight night.
Most Popular Joshua vs Prenga Betting Markets
Boxing offers far more than just the fight winner. For a heavyweight night like this, these are the markets punters tend to look at:
- Fight Winner: The straightforward market. Back a fighter to win.
- Method of Victory: KO/TKO, decision, or technical decision. With AJ’s power and Prenga’s chin untested at this level, the KO market draws plenty of interest.
- Round Betting: Pick the exact round the fight ends. Popular when a knockout looks likely.
- Total Rounds (Over/Under): Bet on the fight lasting longer or shorter than a set number of rounds.
- To Go the Distance: A simple yes or no on whether the fight reaches the final bell.
Explore all of these markets and more on the Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga betting page at BetVictor.
More Boxing and Combat Sports Coverage
Joshua vs Prenga is just the start of a huge summer of combat sports. For the latest fight odds, outright markets, and round betting across every boxing event, visit BetVictor’s boxing betting hub.
Looking ahead to the Octagon as well? Check out our UFC 329: McGregor vs Holloway 2 fight card and UK watch guide for the other blockbuster on the summer calendar.
Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga takes place on Saturday 25 July 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is a 12-round heavyweight contest.
The DAZN broadcast is expected to start around 5pm BST on Saturday 25 July, with the Joshua vs Prenga main event ringwalks expected at approximately 11pm BST. Exact times will be confirmed by DAZN closer to the event.
Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga is live in the UK on DAZN, streamed through the DAZN app and platform on Smart TVs, mobiles, tablets, consoles, and web browsers. The fight is not on Sky Sports or TNT Sports.
Kristian Prenga is a 35-year-old Albanian heavyweight based in New Jersey, with a professional record of 20 wins and 1 loss. All 20 of his wins have come by knockout, though against regional-level opposition rather than ranked contenders.
Not immediately. Joshua faces Kristian Prenga first on 25 July. The all-British superfight against Tyson Fury has been signed for the fourth quarter of 2026, expected in October or November and streaming live on Netflix, provided both men come through their warm-up fights.
Anthony Joshua is the heavy favourite to beat Kristian Prenga, with a knockout win the most likely outcome in the eyes of the market. For the latest odds and markets, visit the BetVictor boxing betting pages.
