Kristian Prenga (born 24 January 1991) is an Albanian professional boxer.
Early life Prenga has stated that despite difficult economic conditions, he had a happy childhood. He learned how to drive a truck when he was 8 years old to help his father work in the mountains. He gained an interest in boxing after going to the gym to lose weight. He also trained in kickboxing.
Professional career Prenga made his professional debut on 7 May 2016, defeating veteran Pavel Siska by second-round knockout in Munich, Germany.
Prenga suffered an early setback in the fifth fight of his career. He suffered a points deduction and ultimately a points defeat to Dutch journeyman Giovanni Auriemma. Prengas biggest win of his career came against American gatekeeper Joey Dawejko. Prenga won by stoppage in the fifth round after Dawejko complained about a bicep injury. Prenga became one of the best ticket sellers in New Jersey. He knocked out American Juan Torres at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, dropping Torres three times in the first round and twice more in the second round before the referee stopped the fight.
Prenga vs. Joshua On 27 April 2026, it was announced that Prenga would face former two-time heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as a warm-up fight for Joshua's planned bout with Tyson Fury later in 2026. The bout was streamed on DAZN on 25 July 2026, taking place at the same time as the Esports World Cup in Boulevard City. Prenga knocked Joshua down twice in the first round, with the first knockdown coming just 20 seconds into the bout, although Joshua went on to win by knockout in the second round. The bout was highly controversial, with many viewers and pundits questioning its authenticity, owing to Prenga's hesitant and lethargic approach in the second round given the success he had in the first. Former 2-division world champion Paulie Malignaggi explored his own thoughts regarding the fight potentially being fixed on Talksport, stating that "A lot of powerful people make a lot of money if you make AJ vs Fury. So, is it possible that somebody whispered into the Prenga corner? I'm just giving a conspiracy theory, don't shoot the messenger.", going on to say "I'm not saying it's necessarily what I believe. Okay. I mean, it's certainly in my mind. It's certainly something I'm thinking about because I'm still trying to come to terms with a guy who was throwing a bunch of punches and landed them and hurt his opponent and all of a sudden just decided to hit the pause button and say, "You know what? I'm not going to throw any punches in round two. You know, I don't want to win this fight." I don't know. It was weird".
Personal life Prenga is Catholic.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes22Loss20–2Anthony JoshuaKO2 (12), 25 Jul 202621Win20–1Joe JonesTKO1 (8), 21 Feb 202620Win19–1Brandon CarmackKO1 (8), 6 Dec 202519Win18–1Willie Jake JrTKO1 (8), 4 Apr 202518Win17–1Juan TorresTKO2 (10), 18 Jan 202517Win16–1Joey DawejkoTKO5 (8), 12 Oct 202416Win15–1Christoper ArnoldTKO1 (8), 29 Dec 202315Win14–1Santander Silgado GelezKO1 (10), 22 Jul 202314Win13–1Samuel CrossedKO3 (10), 25 Mar 202313Win12–1Alvin DavieTKO2 (6), 12 Nov 202212Win11–1DeShon WebsterKO2 (6), 29 Apr 202211Win10–1Samuel MillerKO1 (8), 17 Jul 202110Win9–1Aldo CollianderTKO6 (6), 15 Dec 20189Win8–1Ricardo Humberto RamirezKO3 (6), 19 May 20188Win7–1Tim Chemelli TKO2 (6), 24 Mar 20187Win6–1Alfredo TrevinoTKO2 (6), 1 Dec 20176Win5–1Jaime BarajasKO1 (4), 30 Jun 20175Loss4–1Giovanni Auriemma818 Feb 20174Win4–0Dejan KrnetaTKO3 (4), 26 Nov 20163Win3–0Giovanni AuriemmaTKO4 (4), 22 Oct 20162Win2–0Haris Radmilovic2 (4), 8 Oct 20161Win1–0Pavel Siska2 (4), 7 May 2016
References
External links Kristian Prenga at BoxRec