Unseen footage of Anthony Joshua's corner after first-round knockdown has got fans talking
An unseen clip has emerged following the first round of Anthony Joshua's fight against Kristian Prenga.
Joshua made his emotional and much-anticipated return to the ring on Saturday night, seven months after being involved in a car crash that killed two of his close friends, Kevin Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami.
A bout against Prenga was seen as the perfect warm-up for his long-awaited showdown against Tyson Fury at the end of the year.
Fury secured a comfortable seventh-round stoppage win over Mariusz Wach in a behind-closed-doors event in Thailand a day before, with Joshua expected to do similar.
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But things got off to a disastrous start in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as AJ was knocked to the canvas in the opening 20 seconds after being caught by a powerful right hand from Prenga.
Joshua was then knocked down for the second time at the end of the first round, and at this point, his 'Battle of Britain' showdown against Fury was hanging in the balance.
Following a woeful beginning to his return, the 36-year-old came back in the second round with a brutal combination that sent Prenga through the ropes and ended the fight.
“One thing I’ve learned in there, I said ‘okay, these are starting fast, they’re not coming to box 12 rounds and see if they can outbox me, they’re coming to try to take my head off," Joshua said following a nervy opening round.
“And you know what, in the second round I said to myself ‘I can do the same.’ What am I waiting 12 rounds to break ‘em down? I got some power in my hands so I might as well land some leather as well. And I learned a lot in that moment."
Although many self-proclaimed conspiracy theorists, including Simon Jordan, questioned the manner of his victory after his lightning-quick turnaround, some unseen footage could explain why he was transformed in the second round.
What Sergey Lapin said to Anthony Joshua at the end of the first round
When Joshua was rocked twice by Prenga, the former unified champion needed some words of motivation.
Sergey Lapin, sports director and manager for Oleksandr Usyk, was the man to provide during the break at the end of the first round.
"AJ, listen, brother. You stay, you stay in the ring, please. You not go down," Lapin said, and his words certainly sank in instantly as AJ delivered the brutal blow to Prenga shortly after.
Fans have since responded to the footage on X, with some praising the comments. "Credit to Sergey for giving AJ simple, clear messaging in the corner," they wrote.
"Fantastic motivation," another agreed.
Others, meanwhile, weren't as complimentary. "Looks like AJ's corner was auditioning for a drama series; next thing you know they'll need popcorn," one person claimed.
"Absolutely terrible corner advice here," someone else commented, while a fifth stated: "Ridiculous cornering."
A victory in this manner and after what he's overcome physically and mentally over the past seven months was also made more impressive by what Eddie Hearn said.
The Matchroom Boxing chairman thought Joshua had returned too early after watching him fall to the canvas twice in the first round and noticing his behaviour in the changing room.
"What was going through my mind, honestly, and I thought that this week was ‘have we come back too early?’, as I could tell in the changing room, he started looking down at this in the introduction," Hearn said.
"You start thinking ‘have we made a mistake here?’ Because I know boxing helped him through the grief, but was he even ready to return? And that’s what I was thinking, and I was also thinking it’s over."
Joshua vs Fury is now expected to take place in November, but a time, date and venue still need to be decided.
Topics: Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Tyson Fury, Eddie Hearn
Thomas Griffin