Frank Bruno sums up Anthony Joshua’s performance against Kristian Prenga after two early knockdowns

Anthony Joshua overcame adversity to secure a second-round win upon his comeback on Saturday night, and fellow British former heavyweight world champion Frank Bruno has offered his thoughts on Joshua’s performance.

Entering the bout as a huge favourite against the lesser-known Kristian Prenga, ‘AJ’ was expected to dispatch of the Albanian early – and that he did, but the official result of a second-round stoppage triumph failed to reflect the nature of the contest.

Joshua was dramatically knocked down on two occasions in the opening round in Jeddah, with the 36-year-old’s punch resistance, of lack of, seemingly evident from the get-go and giving him a sense of vulnerability throughout.

Still, Joshua, responded in round two and scored an emphatic knockout to alleviate concerns that his grudge match with Tyson Fury may never take place, becoming the latest to prove the accuracy of the age-old boxing adage that ‘power is the last thing to go’.

On X, Bruno shared his opinion on Joshua’s ring return, believing that it has set up a meeting with ‘The Gypsy King’ perfectly, whilst admitting that it was ‘not Joshua’s best day in the office’.

“Morning, I suppose you want to know what I think of AJ’s fight, best summed up as “Not the best day in the office but all ended okay!” 

“It has set up the clash with Tyson Fury perfectly. The armchair experts question some of the opponents that are not known, I know this from my experience, they can and do surprise you and AJ’s opponent, Prenga, proved the point. 

“Never underestimate your opponent, they have nothing to lose.”

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Fury and Joshua are expected to collide in November, with New York City understood to be the controversial frontrunner as far as the potential location is concerned.