Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua survived a major early scare to defeat Albanian opponent, Kristian Prenga via a second-round knockout in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The bout marked Joshua’s return to the ring for the first time since a tragic December car crash in Nigeria that took the lives of his strength coach, Sina Ghami, and personal trainer, Latif Ayodele.

During a turbulent opening round, Prenga floored Joshua within the first 20 seconds with a heavy right hand and forced him to take another count before the end of the round.

Recovering before the second bell, Joshua launched a powerful counter-attack in the second round, landing a barrage of heavy right hands that sent Prenga to the canvas and halted the contest.

Speaking after the fight, an emotional Joshua dedicated the victory to his late team members, stating, “It’s what champions do. We rise, we get knocked down and we stand up and we keep going… that was spirit, that was Latz, that was Sina.”