Anthony Joshua‘s next opponent has been revealed ahead of his planned battle with Tyson Fury later in the year.
Joshua and Fury have been on a collision course for nearly a decade, and it appeared as if their fight would finally be confirmed after ‘The Gypsy King’ defeated Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London earlier this month.
A back and forth with Joshua then commenced, but ‘AJ’ stood firm as his team insisted that a warm-up fight would likely come next before the clash with Fury.
Joshua last fought in December when he defeated YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, but prior to that his last bout against a legitimate opponent was in September 2024, when he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in their IBF heavyweight title fight.
‘AJ’ was also involved in a tragic car crash just a few weeks after the match-up with Paul which sadly took the lives of his two close friends, and so it is clear why he preferred a warm-up bout next in order to best prepare for Fury.
The opponent for that warm-up has now been confirmed, after it was announced that Joshua will take on the relatively unknown Kristian Prenga on July 25 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
THE COMEBACK 👊@anthonyjoshua fights Kristian Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs) on July 25 in Riyadh!
Locked in for a huge 2026 👀#JoshuaPrenga live on @DAZNBoxingpic.twitter.com/SGOENuAflb
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) April 27, 2026
Prenga has a 100% knockout record, with all 20 of his victories coming inside the distance, but the type of opposition he has taken on throughout his career is levels below that of Joshua.
He suffered a defeat in his fifth professional contest in 2017 to 1-2 opponent Giovanni Auriemma, but he has won all 16 of his fights since then, the most recent of those coming in February when he knocked out 16-14-1 opponent Joe Jones inside the first round.
Nonetheless, Joshua will be expected to win in comfortable fashion, before then preparing for the long-awaited showdown with Fury, although it has now been reported that ‘The Gypsy King’ could be set for another warm-up fight of his own.
