After Tyson Fury's comeback on Friday, it's Anthony Joshua's turn as he faces Kristian Prenga on Saturday. Chris Oliver has the best bets.
Boxing betting tips: Saturday July 25
3pts Anthony Joshua-Kristian Prenga to go over 2.5 rounds 5/6 at (Betfred, Quinn Bet)
2pts Hamzah Sheeraz to win in rounds 1-4 at 13/10 (William Hill)
After the return to action of his big rival Tyson Fury in Thailand, it’s the turn of Anthony Joshua on Saturday as he makes his comeback against Kristian Prenga.
We’re promised ‘AJ’ and Fury will finally fight later in the year and while the latter's return was to keep busy, Joshua needs his outing in Jeddah this weekend for very different reasons.
Joshua hasn’t fought since stopping Jake Paul in the sixth round of their bizarre match-up in December and, perhaps of more significance, he was involved in a serious car accident in Nigeria a week later.
Joshua only suffered minor injuries, but his two best friends died in the crash and there is no telling how that will affect him when he steps back in the ring.
The ring rust after that kind of layoff shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but the psychological damage of losing two men so close to him is a different matter and he needs to find out what he has left.
That is why Prenga has been chosen for this DAZN-televised assignment, as the Albanian’s 20-1 record looks good on paper, but it doesn’t stand up to closer scrutiny.
The 35-year-old has stopped all 20 of his victims and that is the headline-grabbing statistic, but he has fought nobody of note, and he can be backed at 12/1 for this huge step up in class.
Prenga has won all of his last three fights in the first round, but his trio of opponents had a combined record of 53-26-3, which tells you the kind of company he is used to keeping and it is nothing of the calibre of Joshua, who is a best price of 1/10.
This is not so much about what Prenga has to offer but more what Joshua has left, for at 36 years old and after his recent troubles out of the ring, it’s far from guaranteed he still has what it takes to mix at world level.
Let’s not forget he was battered into a fifth-round knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 2024 and that was the kind of loss that very few fighters mentally recover from.
It was the fourth defeat of his 33-fight career and then he hardly covered himself in glory in his freakshow with novice Paul, as he chased him around the ring for five and a half rounds before catching up with the YouTuber in the sixth session.
So, while defeat is highly unlikely against the unknown Prenga, a lacklustre performance from Joshua could take some of the shine off the proposed contest with Fury – a bout which has been nearly 10 years in the making already.
Prenga is 6’5” and fits the bill physically, but his skill set is way below that of Joshua, and he has never fought anywhere near this kind of level. He should be exposed and that is reflected in a best price of just 2/13 for Joshua to win by stoppage. It is only 4/11 for the latter to win in the first six rounds, so the bookies don’t think it will last too long.
Don’t expect to hear the final bell in this one but how early or late it goes depends on the approach of Prenga, whose knockout record could convince him to go on the front foot from the off and look to land something heavy on the huge favourite.
If that is the case, then he will probably walk on to a big shot early doors. However, fighting on such a big stage for the first time could be pretty daunting for Prenga and it wouldn’t surprise me if he is a little more negative as a result.
Add to that the questions hanging over Joshua and whether he wants to be in a boxing ring anymore, then you have a recipe for this to potentially go a few rounds more than the layers expect.
Over 3.5 rounds is tempting at 11/8 but the safest option looks to be OVER 2.5 ROUNDS, which can be backed at 5/6. It is as short as 4/9 in places and, with no way of knowing what AJ has left, that looks the way to approach this fight to me.
Given his age and all that has gone on in his life since he last fought, I don’t expect Joshua to come out swinging and if Prenga isn’t too ambitious either, then this may take a few rounds to catch fire.
Sheer class
Also on the card from Saudi Arabia, Josh Kelly makes the first defence of his IBF light middleweight title against Caoimhin Agyarko.
Kelly won the belt with a brilliant display of boxing against the division’s bogeyman, Bakhram Murtazaliev, at the end of January, as the Sunderland man’s silky skills overcame the power and pressure of the champion to claim a majority decision.
He is 1/4 to successfully defend the title but Agyarko brings a perfect 20-fight record to the table and is a live challenger, despite being available as big as 5/1.
Kelly isn’t noted for his power, and another points victory looks likely for the champion, but that is priced accordingly at 1/2 and there may be better value to be found in the other big fight on the undercard.
Also making his first defence, WBO super middleweight champion Hamzah Sheeraz (23-0-1, 19 KOs) takes on Simon Zachenhuber (29-1, 18 KOs) in what should be a one-sided affair.
Zachenhuber lost a six-rounder on points to the unbeaten Pawel August in April and although he bounced back with a fourth-round stoppage last month, he has mainly fought in Germany against very moderate opposition.
I don’t know how he has managed to get this title shot but that isn’t the concern of Sheeraz, just as it wasn’t his fault that he faced an overmatched Alem Begic when winning this belt in May.
After dazzling US fans with a brilliant fifth-round knockout of Edgar Berlanga last year, Sheeraz pummelled Begic into a second-round defeat and it could be a similar story here.
Unsurprisingly, Sheeraz is a 1/20 favourite, with Zachenhuber a top price of 14/1, and the champion is 1/5 to get this done inside the distance. However, you can get 13/10 for him to get rid of his man in the OPENING FOUR ROUNDS and I fancy him to do so.
The Slough native has all the ingredients to be a huge star in the sport and should be levels above Zachenhuber, whose sole defeat came the last time he boxed outside of Germany.
Sheeraz doesn’t hang about and has a habit of ending things early, thanks to his freakish size for the weight and boasting serious power in both hands. He can show his class and power again to get another quick win.
Posted at 10:35 BST on 24/07/26
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