5 hrs ago
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Kristian Prenga will likely be the last man standing in the way of a potential mega-fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury finally happening.
Joshua faces Prenga in a 12-round heavyweight bout night Saturday night in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Should Joshua emerge victorious and Tyson Fury beat another big underdog, Mariusz Wach, in their 10-round heavyweight bout Friday in Thailand, it’d set the stage for arguably the biggest the fight in British boxing history.
Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs), a two-time unified heavyweight champion, last fought in December, when he beat Jake Paul by sixth-round stoppage in Miami. Just over a week later, Joshua, 36, suffered serious injuries in a car accident that killed two of his closest friends and members of his team, Sina Ghami and Latif Adoyele, in Nigeria.
Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs) will make an enormous jump in competition.
The 35-year-old, New Jersey-based Albanian heavyweight has only been scheduled for a 10-round fight once in his career. He last fought February 21, when he stopped Joe Jones (16-15-2, 10 KOs) in the first round of a scheduled eight-round fight in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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They said it
Joshua:“If I could dream, I would beat Prenga. ‘Wow, Anthony Joshua wins,’ hand is raised, and we bring Tyson Fury into the ring. Bringing that dream to reality would be amazing. I’m praying for victory.”
Prenga: “This is everything for me. It’s not just for me, this is for all my country. This is the biggest event, and it’s bigger for every athlete, not just for boxing, for Albania.
What are the odds?
Joshua is a ginormous favorite at -4500, according to FanDuel. Prenga is a +1600 underdog.
Must-see on the undercard
A pair of title fights make up the undercard.
Hamzah Sheeraz (23-0-1, 19 KOs) will make his first defense of the WBO super middleweight title against Germany’s Simon Zachenhuber (29-1, 18 KOs). The 27-year-old Sheeraz, who is The Ring’s No. 9-ranked super middleweight, won the title with a dominant second-round stoppage of Alem Begic on May 23 in Giza, Egypt.
Earlier Saturday, Josh Kelly (18-1-1, 9 KOs) will also make his first defense of the IBF junior middleweight title versus Caoimhin Agyarko (18-0, 7 KOs). Kelly upset Bakhram Murtazaliev by majority decision on January 31 to win that belt.
Jacob Bank (19-0, 11 KOs), The Ring’s No. 8-ranked super middleweight, will also oppose Pawel August in an eight-round super middleweight bout. Undefeated Japanese southpaw Reito Tsutsumi (4-0, 3 KOs) fights for the first time in a scheduled 10-round bout when he faces Alvino Herrera Meza (18-0-2, 11 KOs).
Location
Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
How can I watch it?
The main portion of the card will begin streaming on DAZN PPV ($59.99 in the U.S.; £19.99 in the UK) and as part of the DAZN Ultimate Package ($49.99; £24.99) at 1 p.m. ET/6 p.m. BST. Preliminary action on DAZN is set to start at 9 a.m. ET and 2 p.m. BST.
Catch up with more event-related content
Preview
Super middleweight

Next
Joshua promises to produce clinical display vs. Prenga
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