Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga LIVE: Start time, undercard, fight updates and results from warm-up for Tyson Fury clash – UK Times

We’re into the second round of eight between Oleksandr Khzyniak and Lenny Patrach. Ukranian Khzyniak has caught the eye with a high volume of his punches, and his latest hook has his French rival on the canvas.

Patrach is back to his feet but has work to do – too much, as he is knocked down moments later. The fight is called off – light heavyweight Khzyniak records the second professional win of his career, in front of compatriot Oleksandr Usyk.

Unfortunately for AJ, there are no world titles on the line during the headlining bout against Kristian Prenga.

However, we will see two world championship fights as part of the chief support acts on the under card.

The penultimate fight of the evening sees Hamzah Sheeraz (23-0-1, 19 KOs) make the first defence of his WBO super middleweight belt against German challenger Simon Zachenhuber (28-1, 19 KOs). Zachenhuber’s latest fight – a fifth-round stoppage of Armin Ajrulai – came less than 30 days ago.

Sheeraz’s fellow Brit Josh Kelly (18-1-1, 9 KOs) has his own defence, taking on unbeaten Irish fighter Caoimhin Agyarko (18-0, 7 KOs) for the IBF version of the super welterweight crown.

We’ve rattled through the early prelims on a packed card. Ziyad Almaayouf recovered from a mid-fight knockdown to defeat Frank Lucian Mango on points, with some slightly wide scorecards raising eyebrows.

The results of the card so far are as follows:

Super lightweight – Mohamed Mabrouk Yehya UD vs Bryan Zapata

Super middleweight – Omar Hikal UD vs Brian Castellano

Super featherweight – Sultan Almohammed TKO 3rd round vs Efren Besalduch

Lightweight – Mohammed Alakel TKO 4th round vs Lydon Chircop

Welterweight – Ziyad Almaayouf UD vs Frank Lucian Mango

We’ve known Anthony Joshua’s next opponent for a few months, but Kristian Prenga remains a relative unknown in the heavyweight division.

The 35-year-old boasts a record of 20 wins and one loss in 21 professional fights. Remarkably, all 20 of those wins came by way of knockout – either straight KO or TKO victories.

Combat sports editor Alex Pattle has the lowdown.

Friday’s weigh-in went off smoothly enough and AJ looks in good shape for his comeback fight this evening

Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Anthony Joshua’s fight with Kristian Prenga this evening.

After years of waiting, we are finally on the brink of the biggest British heavyweight fight of all time – Joshua v Tyson Fury, pencilled in for later this year.

This evening is the final (in-ring) hurdle. AJ can’t afford a slip-up against Albanian unknown Prenga but if he does the business in this warm-up fight, as expected, then the Fury showdown awaits.

Stick with us for full live coverage.