Paulie Malignaggi Wonders Why Kristian Prenga Stopped Throwing Punches Against Anthony Joshua

“I’ve always felt AJ is one of the most entertaining fighters in the sport. He’s been a guy who’s carried the sport on his back in some ways in this generation,” Malignaggi said to talkSPORT Boxing. “Kristian Prenga may not have the experience, but he’s also not mentally disassembled either. It doesn’t take a genius to know that when you hurt a guy, you’ve got to throw punches. He threw all the punches in the first round. I don’t understand where the stoppage in throwing punches happened.”

The former champion stressed he was not accusing anyone of wrongdoing. Still, he admitted the sequence looked unusual because Joshua, despite showing signs of vulnerability early, remained dangerous if given an opportunity to recover.

“AJ’s been at world-class. He knows that as soon as you give him a moment, you give him a little bit of daylight to get back in the fight, he will take that,” Malignaggi said. “It was really, really strange that a guy who was throwing the punches he needed to throw in round one and got the result he wanted just suddenly hit the pause button and didn’t do anything to start out round two.”

Malignaggi acknowledged that speculation naturally follows an outcome like this because of the financial rewards attached to a long-anticipated Joshua versus Tyson Fury fight. Malignaggi said he wasn’t claiming it as fact, only offering a theory. In his view, unusual sequences are examined closely when that much money is involved.

Joshua survived the early scare before finishing Prenga with a brutal combination in the second round, keeping his planned collision with Fury on course.