Promoter Turki Alashikh announced the addition of two world title fights to the undercard of heavyweight Anthony Joshua's return Saturday July 25th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Hamzah Sheeraz defends his WBO super middleweight crown and Josh Kelly will put up his IBF junior middleweight belt.
Two world championship bouts have been added to the undercard of the 2026 return of former unified heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua who meets Kristian Prenga. The champs- Hamzah Sheeraz and Josh Kelly both set to defend their own newly won titles on Saturday, July 25, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The fight card, is staged as part of Jeddah Season in collaboration with Riyadh Season, Matchroom Boxing, SELA and Goldstar, and will stream live worldwide, exclusively on DAZN.
Josh Kelly, 18-1-1, 9 KOs, returns to the ring after capturing the IBF junior middleweight championship with a hard-fought majority decision over Bakhram Murtazaliev back in January in Newcastle, England. The Sunderland standout now puts his crown on the line against undefeated Irish contender Caoimhin Agyarko. Agyarko finally receives his first shot at world championship after a scheduled IBF title eliminator earlier this year was called off shortly before fight night.
Also in action is unbeaten star Hamzah Sheeraz, 23-0-1, 19 KOs, who claimed the WBO world super middleweight championship with a standout performance in Egypt in May. The hard punching British star pummeled Allem Begic in three rounds on the Oleksandr Usyk-Rico Verhoeven undercard May 25.
Now, the 27 year old is right back in the ring only about 60 days later with a first title defense against little known German Simon Zachenhuber, as he looks to strengthen his position among the division's elite.
We discussed Sheeraz's return to the ring on our newest "Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast" out Monday morning. Hear Dan Rafael and me with more by clicking play below,
The championship double-header adds even more intrigue to an already stacked night of boxing, led by Joshua's highly anticipated heavyweight contest against Prenga.
The 36 year old Joshua, 29-4 26 KOs, will risk fighting the 35 year old, little known, Prenga, 20-1, 20 KOs, even though he's signed for a mega-fight with countryman and fellow former two-time heavyweight champ Tyson Fury late this year.
Fury will actually fight "over the hill" veteran Mariusz Wach in Thailand in what essentially is a tune-up exhibition on the night before (July 24th) the Saudi Arabia card.
This will be the former two time WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champ Joshua's first bout since his kayo of social media/Youtube sensation Jake Paul in Miami last December.
That victory appeared set to propel Joshua straight back into another high-profile heavyweight showdown. Instead, his career was put on hold just weeks later after he was involved in a devastating car accident in Nigeria. Joshua, who was a passenger in the vehicle, survived the crash, but two of his close friends tragically lost their lives.
Alongside the emotional trauma of the tragedy, Joshua also sustained undisclosed physical injuries. The former world champion subsequently stepped away from boxing to recover and reassess both his career ambitions and personal priorities.
