Anthony Joshua’s next opponent has been revealed ahead of his fight with Tyson Fury scheduled for later this year.

Joshua and Fury have been on a collision course for almost a decade and it seemed their fight would finally be confirmed after “The Gypsy King” defeated Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London earlier this month.

An exchange with Joshua then ensued, but ‘AJ’ stood his ground when his team insisted there would likely be a warm-up fight before facing Fury.

Joshua’s last fight was in December when he defeated YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, but before that his last fight against a legal opponent was in September 2024 when he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in an IBF heavyweight title fight.

“AJ” was also involved in a tragic car accident just weeks after his fight with Paul, which sadly claimed the lives of two of his close friends, so it is clear why he preferred the next fight to be a warm-up to best prepare for Fury.

A warm-up opponent has now been confirmed following the announcement that Joshua will face relatively unknown Kristian Prenga on July 25 in Riyad, Saudi Arabia.

BACK 👊@anthonyjoshua fight with Kristian Prenga (20-1, 20 KO) on July 25 in Riyad!

Locked in for a great year 2026 👀#JoshuaPrenga survive @DAZNBoxingpic.twitter.com/SGOENuAflb

— Boxing at Matchroom (@MatchroomBoxing) April 27, 2026

Prenga has a 100% knockout record and all 20 of his wins have come within the distance, but the type of opponents he has faced throughout his career are at a level below Joshua’s.

In 2017, in his fifth professional fight, he suffered a 1-2 loss to opponent Giovanni Auriemma, but since then he has won all 16 fights, the last one coming in February, when he knocked out Joe Jones in the first round 16-14-1.

Nevertheless, Joshua is expected to win comfortably before he begins preparing for his long-awaited showdown with Fury, although it has now been reported that ‘The Gypsy King’ could have another warm-up fight of his own.

Gorokhov (16-11-2) had already done damage with large shots, finishing Kalkan (7-0, 4 KO) with a spotless knockout that forced the referee to wave his hand. The task has been completed.

After being detained, Gorokhov walked to the opposite corner, where a fight began. That was enough. The cornermen ran inside, the voices became piercing, followed by punches. Within seconds, many people entered the ring.

The situation got out of the referee’s control. The horns could not be separated. Once the non-fighters make it through the ropes, the result will be written in the record books.

The footage showed flying chairs and people trading on ropes as security tried to take control of the situation. The recording shows objects thrown near the ropes. The announcements to stop the fight didn’t change anything. The ring is already gone.

The sanctioning authority has confined powers and the ruling follows standard procedure. When the ropes are broken and extra hands are involved, the score cannot stand and is removed from the scoresheet.

An investigation is ongoing and suspensions and penalties are expected once reports are submitted. The verdict now comes from the officials, not the blows that ended it.

Kalkan keeps his undefeated record in the books. Gorokhov leaves without the victory he earned. Disciplinary action is expected following the investigation.

Although Oleksandr Usyk presented his three-fight plan, a recent challenger entered the fight with hopes of taking a shot at the Ukrainian and winning the unified world heavyweight titles.

Next month’s meeting with Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven kicks off what Usyk envisioned as a series of three hand-picked fights before his planned retirement in 2027, with his next dance partner being the winner of Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois.

However, the WBC is expected to demand that Usyk fight mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel in his next fight, and promoter Frank Warren believes he will be stripped of his belt if he fails to face the undefeated German.

Meanwhile, the WBA and IBF titles are not on the line against Verhoeven, which has fight fans wondering whether Usyk could soon be stripped of those belts as well.

Although if Usyk defends the WBA crown, Jarrell Miller will be waiting for him after him on Saturday evening he defeated Lenier Pero in the WBA eliminator final rise to title contention.

I’m talking to Fighting Hub TV after “Gigantic Baby” won, he told Usyk that there was nowhere to run or hide when fighting him.

“He’s a great fighter, man, but when you’re fighting a bully like me, there’s nowhere to run or hide. Usyk doesn’t really have crazy punching power, and he has trouble with guys who punch to the body and throw a lot of punches.”

This performance [against Pero] it was just a taste of what I could do. So the most essential thing is to go back and get the drawing board back. Let’s work and be ready for everyone.

I want Usyk to come back after the Rico fight and I can spank him.

If Usyk loses the WBA title, Miller could find himself in line for a title fight with current WBA Regular titleholder Murat Gassiew, who expected to be promoted to full champion. Although Moses Itauma would probably get the first shot at the proposed scrap with the Russian.