Joshua survives double-knockdown scare to stop Prenga in Jeddah

However, Joshua dusted himself off to begin the second round. He showed why he's so resilient and perhaps the best finisher in the heavyweight division in knocking Prenga out at the 2:43 mark of the second round to keep the all-British fight for the ages intact.

Fury lived up to his word after stopping Mariusz Wach on Friday and didn't attend the Joshua fight. That didn't stop Joshua from delivering some shots at his British rival in channeling his inner Mike Tyson. 

"I'm gonna rip his heart out. I'm the meanest, most vicious champion there's ever been," Joshua told DAZN's Ade Oladipo after the fight. "Nobody can stop me. Alexander? He's no Alexander.

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Joshua defeats Prenga in dramatic triumph

Watch: 'AJ' survives double knockdown to destroy Albanian

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"All jokes aside, there's two sides to this thing. One is the fighter. You have to have that vim, that grrr. But also, there's respect. I respect everything he's done and everything that he's achieved. But as a fighter person and someone who's been calling for this fight for a long time, we're here now. 

"I hope the fans will be in for a lovely treat."

It was a disastrous start for Joshua (30-4, 27 KOs). He and Prenga were in close quarters when the Albanian snapped a short right uppercut, which sent Joshua to the canvas just 20 seconds into the fight. But Joshua got up smiling at the referee and moved his arm to finish the count, and he was OK to continue. 

But Joshua didn't look OK. His legs were still shaky, and he was doing everything he could to survive the opening round. Prenga kept coming and blasting right hands. One got through that saw Joshua's glove touch the canvas. Joshua just smiled as the referee counted and was ready to continue. He made it to round two, and the fight changed from there.

The former two-time unified heavyweight world champ looked completely different in the second round. With his legs back under him, Joshua came out firing the jab and the right hand, which backed up Prenga and caught his attention. 

That strategy proved to be the finishing sequence as, with about a minute remaining in the second, a sharp right sent Prenga to the ropes. Joshua saw the opening, unloaded a combination, and one final piston-like right hand dropped Prenga like a tree and nearly sent him through the ropes to finally secure the fight he's been chasing for nearly a decade.

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