Anthony Joshua returns to the ring on Saturday against the relatively unknown Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, knowing that victory would set up a long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury.Joshua, a two-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist, has won 29 fights – 26 by stoppage – and lost four. Albanian Prenga enters the fight with an impressive record of his own, having achieved all of his 20 victories with stoppages while suffering only one defeat.However, the 35-year-old has never faced anyone close to Joshua’s level.Joshua v Prenga – all you need to knowAfter Fury comfortably dispatched Polish veteran Mariusz Wach in Thailand on Friday, can Joshua can come through his own warm-up bout?This will be Joshua’s first fight since he was involved in a car crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two close friends, Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele.The Fury-Joshua fight has been a decade in the making. Contracts have been signed, with the blockbuster bout expected to take place later this year.But could Prenga spoil the party and pull off a huge shock to go down in boxing history as the man who got in the way of Joshua-Fury happening?Radio commentary from Jeddah will begin from about 20:30 BST on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds, and the BBC Sport website and app.Live text commentary will begin at 19:30 on the BBC Sport website and app.BBC Sport spoke to figures from the boxing world to get their predictions for Saturday’s fight.Natasha Jonas – former two-weight world champion”I think AJ will win by a stoppage late. He has to be careful at the beginning of the fight because a lot of Prenga’s stoppages have come in the first couple of rounds – he rarely goes past six rounds, so that’s uncharted territory.”Prediction – JoshuaCarl Frampton – former two-weight world champion”I think AJ will have a look in the first round but it will be over round three or four. I think he’ll go right though this guy. I hope he does and we see him and Fury.”Prediction – JoshuaReady to ‘conquer Earth’ – Joshua embraces comeback spotlightJoshua v Prenga – all you need to knowJosh Kelly – IBF light-middleweight world champion”Joshua coming back from what he has is a testament to himself. His attitude and mental resilience. I haven’t seen much of Prenga, but I’ve heard he’s a tough guy. If the right Anthony Joshua goes out there and performs, he’s a hard night for anyone. If he goes out and performs, he can put anyone on their back. He needs to not overthink. Do your job, get in and get out.”Prediction – JoshuaAdam Smith – DAZN commentator”Obviously it’s been an incredibly difficult time for AJ but he seems mentally and physically in a good place, training under Team Usyk.”I expect him to go out there and emphatically deal with Prenga, who has not fought at anywhere near Joshua’s level. So Joshua to win within the first four rounds.”Prediction – Joshua Adam Booth – trainer”I think it’s a fascinating opponent for AJ to take, because although you may criticise Prenga
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