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

“I’ve all the time felt AJ is probably the most entertaining fighters in the game. He’s been a man who’s carried the game on his back in some ways on 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 whenever you hurt a man, you’ve got to throw punches. He threw all of the punches in the primary round. I don’t understand where the stoppage in throwing punches happened.”

The previous 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 a possibility to recuperate.

“AJ’s been at world-class. He knows that as soon as you give him a moment, you give him a little bit little bit of daylight to get back within the fight, he’ll take that,” Malignaggi said. “It was really, really strange that a man 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 out round two.”

Malignaggi acknowledged that speculation naturally follows an consequence like this due to 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 ending Prenga with a brutal combination within the second round, keeping his planned collision with Fury on the right track.