Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga LIVE: AJ returns to ring after car crash against little-known knockout artist – as he bids to set up long-awaited clash with Tyson Fury

Anthony Joshua says the car crash which killed two of his friends in December still ‘hurts a lot’. Being here in the ring is an act of therapy, resilience, and, in some way, a tribute to them.

‘It’s tough. Every time I think about it, it hurts a lot,’ he told BBC Sport.

‘Even talking about it now, pictures, it hurts.

‘But I need to keep my mind occupied, because if I stop, you let it sink i, and I’m not ready for it to sink in yet.’

British boxer Hamzah Sheeraz has done his ring walk ahead of his WBO world super middleweight title defence against Simon Zachenhuber.

Should be a good one, this!

You can always rely on Jeff Powell for a cutting opinion.

Our boxing doyen has cast his eye over this weekend and delivered his verdict: Prenga would be lucky to get a job as Joshua’s sparring partner, and the same applies to Wach with Fury.

It underlines the mismatched nature of these ding-dongs. And that, in turn, underlines how much of an upset defeat for Joshua would be…

He’s always up to some mischief, isn’t he, this fella?

Oleksandr Usyk has been settled in ringside for quite a while now. He isn’t missing a moment of this.

It’s a face Joshua doesn’t need to be reminded of after his back-to-back defeats to the Ukrainian in 2021 and 2022.

But the Englishman has put that behind him, because he’s actually been training alongside Usyk. Friends after all.

If Joshua navigates tonight as expected, where can we expect him to have his dust-up with The Gypsy King?

Well, the indications are that it would be held in the Uited States rather than the United Kingdom. A shame, really, when both fighters are British.

Joshua’s promoted Eddie Hearn told DAZN: ‘We’ve been told in the last 24 hours that [a fight in America] is what they want.

‘That doesn’t tally up with the contract that we signed. Until we’re happy, we expect every point of that contract to be followed. I feel like this fight should be taking place in the UK.

‘Anthony Joshua insisted that the contract stated that the fight must be in the UK.

‘If they want to change the contract, then we have to renegotiate the contract. Which, by the way, is not a problem. But it’s a conversation we have to have.’

Even hardcore boxing fans would struggle to tell you something about Kristian Prenga, who has been suddenly thrust into the limelight.

The relative minnow, who stands at 6ft5in and weight 10lbs more than AJ, certainly backs himself. ‘I’m just thinking I’m going to knock him out,’ he said coming into this.

And why not think like that? Prenga has 20 wins in his career and only one defeat, and all 20 of those victories have been knockouts.

He usually does his business in the early rounds, so that’s where the threat lies for Joshua. Anything beyond six rounds and Prenga is in deeply unfamiliar territory.

Make no mistakes: many see Joshua’s triumph as a foregone conclusion. But sport wouldn’t be sport if we didn’t see a shock from time to time, would it?

Anthony Joshua arrived earlier for his fight sporting a luminous jacket. One another night you might think he was biking.

Tonight is going to be a poignant one for Joshua.

For the first time since he lost his friends Latif Ayodele (centre) and Sina Ghami (right), he will step into the ring.

The floor of that ring bears the name of his former personal trainer and strength coach, and so do his shorts.

Joshua says he now looks at life differently, but walking away from the sport he loves was never a consideration. This business, he says, is his therapy.

Sunderland-born boxer Josh Kelly has retained his IBF junior middleweight title against Caoimhin Agyarko by unanimous decision.

The judges scored the fight 114-113, 115-112 and 115-11 in his favour.

Let’s just say he took a battering despite his win.

‘I thank my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ,’ he began.

‘That was a messy, hard fight.’

That’s putting it one way, Josh!

Fury held up his end of the bargain in a low-key event in Pattaya, Thailand, which is known for its Muay Thai contests.

He dominated and claimed a seventh-round TKO against heavy underdog Mariusz Wach, building his fitness.

It ws largely one-way traffic, with Fury taking his professional record to 36-2-1. Wach, feeling worse for wear after a punishing stint in the ring, signalled for the fight to end, and officialls mercifully ended it before the eighth round began.

For Joshua and Fury, these fights are more a formality than a threat… but you never know what can happen.

Tonight isn’t just about keeping his name in the papers for Joshua, or even setting up that head-to-head with Fury.

He still dreams of sporting excellence. He envisions a future where he is back winning world titles – he lost his unified heavyweight belts to Usyk in 2021 – and wants to fight until he is 40.

AJ, 36, receently said: After I deal with Tyson Fury, on to world titles. I accept this will be a tough year and I’m coming up 37 in October but I feel have the strength in every aspect to keep fighting until I’m 40. Boxing’s what I do.

I’m back. Back to the place where I always find my purpose. Where I’m content.’

Joshua has made it clear that his dreams of a Fury clash will go up in flames if he fails to win tonight. It would be one of the most embarrassing results in recent boxing history.

That’s no disrespect to Prenga, who has a good record for his level. he has just never faced anyone of this calibre.

Joshua said in his pre-fight press conference: ‘Ultimately, the reality of the matter is there is no future unless I get past this checkpoint on Saturday night.

‘We’ve been working since January, working hard, aligning all my stars.

‘I understand there’s a big picture. The goal is to conquer the universe, right? But first we must conquer earth.’