ANTHONY JOSHUA switched tactics to mastermind a stunning comeback victory over Kristian Prenga.
AJ was downed after just 20 seconds in shock scenes during his fight against Albanian heavyweight Prenga at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia.
Punch stats have revealed how Anthony Joshua survived a scare against Kristian Prenga Credit: AFP
AJ completely changed tactics after being downed twice in the first round Credit: Getty
The 36-year-old was then downed again in the first round but survived the onslaught.
He then roared back into life in the second round to break through Prenga’s guard with a flurry of furious punches and KO his rival to save his £100million Battle of Britain face-off with Tyson Fury.
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The day before Fury had won a fight of his own against former heavyweight title challenger Mariusz Wach in Thailand.
And while his win may have been far more convincing than Joshua’s, the Gypsy King will still need to be careful of an AJ revolution.
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The former Commonwealth Games champion was in the ring for the first time since the tragic death of close friends Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele in a devastating car crash in December.
AJ showed incredible mental fortitude just to get back into the ring, and showed even more when in the ring as a major upset looked possible.
But Joshua used every bit of his boxing experience to overhaul his approach between rounds.
The Watford warrior more than doubled the number of punches he threw from 22 to 46, according to CompuBox.
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The Gypsy King has beaten Mariusz Wach in his second fight of the year to set up a huge fight with Anthony Joshua
And AJ did the same, knocking out Kristian Prenga in the second round of a thrilling encounter – the Brit was knocked down twice in the opening round.
And Moses Itauma returns for his toughest fight yet against Filip Hrgovic in August.
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Prenga had come out flying in round one as he landed exactly half of 28 power punches, with Joshua returning the favour in Round Two to land 10 out of 17 before the stoppage.
But AJ’s boxing brain was on full display as he dictated the distance and tempo of the fight with his jab.
Joshua did not land many, with only five out of 45 across the fight hitting home, but that did not matter as the jab was not being used as a way to finish off Prenga, but rather to set up his downfall.
The volume of AJ’s jab went from 16 to 29 over the two rounds, which disrupted The Eagle’s early offensive to ultimately break his guard before the coup de grâce.
ANTHONY JOSHUA VS KRISTIAN PRENGA LIVE COVERAGE
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He had ultimately listened to advice from coach Iegor Golub, a former trainer of Oleksandr Usyk, who told him: “AJ, first of all, you must move.
“Your hands must be closed. You must move and work the jab. You stay in ring, don’t go down.”
Speaking after the fight AJ fought back tears as he paid tribute to his pals who were killed in the car crash in December.
He said: “It’s more than punch power. That was spirit, that was Latz, that was Sina, that was the families.
“It hurts to even talk about it. It has been tough.”
Joshua’s victory over Prenga keeps his grudge match with Fury on track, but in a stunning snub to Brits, the fight is set to take place in New York.
The bout currently looks set to happen in Madison Square Garden, potentially on November 14, with a fight in the Big Apple being preferred by Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh and Netflix and TKO president Nick Khan.
Eddie Hearn, AJ’s long-time promoter, told JattvibeSport that he is battling to keep the bout in Britain, while Fury’s manager Spencer Brown also agreed with the stance that the showdown should take place on home soil.
