Should Joshua come through Prenga unscathed, he will finally fight Tyson Fury at the end of 2026 in arguably the most anticipated showdown in British boxing history, live on Netflix.

Joshua, 36, has not boxed since his involvement in the Lagos car crash which killed his two close friends Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele on December 29.

Although he sustained only minor injuries in the accident, it was unclear whether Joshua would ever fight again but he confirmed his intention to box on during an emotional video uploaded a month later.

Almost immediately, thoughts turned towards a potential fight with Tyson Fury, who himself had confirmed his return to the ring following the fifth retirement of his career.

However, Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) insisted he wanted an interim fight before heading into a Fury fight. In a press release on Monday, Joshua said: “It’s no secret I’ve taken some time to consolidate and rebuild to be ready for stepping back in to the ring and today is the next step on that journey.

"I’m delighted to have agreed a multi-fight deal starting with July 25th in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I’m looking forward to competing and picking up where I left off."

In reference to a clash between Joshua and Fury, Turki Alalshikh, head of the General Entertainment Authority and owner of The Ring, tweeted: "To my friends in Great Britain - it’s happening. It’s signed."

Joshua was ringside at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 11 as Fury outpointed Arslanbek Makhmudov in his comeback fight. The pair then memorably exchanged words in the aftermath, but Joshua refused to enter the ring for a face-off with Fury.

The London 2012 Olympic champion insisted he would not do so until the fight was signed, and given that Fury had shaken off any ring rust by beating Makhmudov, he would also require a “tune-up fight.”

Now it has been confirmed that will come against big-punching Albanian Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs).

The 35-year-old New Jersey resident has not competed near world level and is yet to take part in a scheduled 12-rounder. But he has a 100 per cent knockout ratio with his only defeat coming narrowly on points over eight back in 2017.

Their clash will be streamed live and exclusively on DAZN, headlining a show midway through the third edition of the annual Esports World Cup tournament (July 6-August 23) in Riyadh's Boulevard City.

In the same press release, Prenga said: “Anthony Joshua is a great fighter, but he made a terrible miscalculation in picking me as his opponent. This is the kind of fight that changes everything in my life and his. I know they have big plans ahead after this fight.

"I know they are overlooking me. I’m happy about that. I will derail their plans and shock the world this July in Saudi Arabia.”

This will be Joshua’s first fight since a sixth-round stoppage of Jake Paul in their lucrative eight-rounder on December 19 in Miami, 10 days before the car crash.

Before facing Paul, he had not boxed since his crushing fifth-round knockout at the hands of then-IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 21.

This clash with Prenga will also represent his fifth outing in Saudi Arabia. His first outing in the Kingdom was a redemptive points win over Andy Ruiz in December 2019, before defeat on points to current Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk in their Jeddah rematch in August 2021, 12 months after losing the unified titles.

His fortunes changed in Riyadh when embarking on a rebuilding spell as he knocked out both Francis Ngannou and Otto Wallin in the capital across a four-month spell from December 2023 to March 2024.