Jake Paul was the last man to fight Anthony Joshua and he has now revealed his verdict on AJ’s chaotic victory over Kristian Prenga.

Joshua went up against Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturdayin a clash that was expected to be a comfortable win for the former world heavyweight champion in order to set up the long overdue battle against Tyson Fury.

Any hopes of seeing that clash were nearly ended after AJ was dropped twice in the opening round of the bout, though he was able to recover and claim the second round knockout to come out on top and prevent a stunning shock upset from taking place.

Saturday’s outing saw Joshua back in the ring for the first time since his sixth round triumph over YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul back in Decemberand now ‘The Problem Child’ himself has shared his reaction to his former rival’s victory over Prenga.

Posting on social mediaPaul praised AJ for earning the win, after returning to action following the tragic car crash he was involved in at the end of last year which took the lives of his two close friends.

“Happy for Joshua with that win after all he’s been through. Remembering Sina and Latz with this one.”

Happy for Joshua with that win after all he’s been through.

Remembering Sina and Latz with this one.

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) July 25, 2026

The win for Joshua should now tee up for meeting with Fury later this year, after ‘The Gypsy King’ held up his end of the bargain by also securing a win in his warm-up bout on Friday, securing a seventh round retirement win against Mariusz Wach.

Anthony Joshua may have earned a knockout win over Kristian Prenga but the fight certainly didn’t unfold as most people expected.

Joshua was facing the Albanian in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and it looked like a massive upset could be on the cards when he was dropped twice in the opening round.

‘AJ’ was able to recover and went on to secure a second round knockout victory to prevent the shock lossseemingly paving the way for the battle against Tyson Fury later this year.

One man who was ringside to witness the battle was former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellewand he praised Joshua’s ability to turn things around in the fight after describing it as ‘chaos’.

“We predicted round two but I don’t think we foresaw that. That was chaos. He doesn’t see the uppercut coming and finds himself on the floor without knowing how he got there.

“The second one he did see it coming and he was able to clench down on the jaw. He got up and then the experience that he has he used tonight because he tied him up. Against Andy Ruiz he didn’t know what he was doing and didn’t know how to do that, but tonight he did.

“He showed once again there is no quit. To be that hurt in the first round and get up, that’s the recoveries of power. People talk about your chin, but it’s not, it’s the level of fitness that gets you up from the floor.

“When Joshua gets a fighter hurt he’s the best finisher in the division. Whenever he hurts someone they’re gone. I haven’t seen him drop anybody and they survive, only Andy Ruiz. He’s a ruthless finisher.”

The clash between Joshua and Fury is now expected to be announced soon for later this year, after Fury won his own interim fight on Friday by defeating Mariusz Wach.

Anthony Joshua had to overcome a major scare in his battle against Kristian Prenga.

The two fighters went head to head in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturdayin a clash that most fans expected to be a straightforward win for Joshua in order to set up the showdown with long-term rival and fellow former world champion Tyson Fury later this year.

Those plans nearly went up in smoke though, as ‘AJ’ was dropped twice in the first round, before managing to recover and land a big knockdown of his own in the second round that Prenga was unable to recover from to hand the British star the stoppage win.

After nearly suffering the shock defeat, Joshua revealed during his post-fight interview exactly what he made of Prenga’s power, admitting that with more experience, the Albanian could go on to become a serious threat in boxing.

“He’s a strong guy. Eddie Hearn wants to sign him now. He’s going to do well. He’s got a bright future. I’m a serious fighter and I know what I’m doing. Maybe with a bit more experience he’ll be better.

“He’s strong, durable, he showed me a good test. This is what we do. We get knocked down and stand up and keep going.”

Attention is now set to turn to the long-awaited fight between Fury and Joshua later this year, with ‘The Gypsy King’ also having been successful in his warm-up bout on Friday by claiming a seventh round retirement win over Mariusz Wach.