Anthony Joshua survived a scare against the unranked, unheralded Kristian Prenga on Saturday, July 25th in Suadi Arabia.
In his comeback fight, AJ found himself on the canvas within 20 seconds, but managed to get through a torrid opener with two eight-counts to turn things around in the second stanza to win with 17 seconds left in the round.
The relieved victor immediately quoted Mike Tyson after the chaotic contest and told everyone that's what champions do, but he failed to acknowledge the first round where he was all at sea, moments away from being stopped.
GBN collated some of the most popular reactions from social media.
Steve Bunce: “As much as I want to say it’s on, as much as I want to say we can move on to Tyson Fury, I think we need to look at that first round and look at how easily AJ was hurt. We can’t just skip past that. Let’s just be a little bit realistic here. If there was any fighter inside the top 100 in the ring with Joshua tonight, we would be reading and running over the end of his career.”
Curtis Woodhouse: "Sad seeing AJ like that last night. He’s finished, it happens to every fighter unfortunately. Now the people around him really earn their corn. Now they sit him down and say No Mas. He’s done it all, it’s time to leave the party."
Eddie Hearn: "No-one can imagine what he's been through. In the first round I said: 'We have come back too soon.' He needed boxing to get through this. The camp allowed him to focus his mind when he was going through grief."
Tim Rickson: "AJ instantly told everyone after that shambles, 'that's what champions do', but I disagree; champions don't often get dropped within 20 seconds of a 12-round bout and spend the first round staggering all over the ring against an opponent nowhere near the top 30 in the world rankings. Just like Eddie Hearn, he focused solely on the positives, spinning the script to suit him, but he and his team should seriously be worried and consider their next opponent very carefully. The Tyson Fury fight next? I don't believe Fury has anything to worry about after watching that, but Joshua should be very worried. I personally wouldn't put AJ in with many of the top heavyweights for fear of him getting knocked out and seriously hurt. I think it's going to be an ongoing concern in every fight he goes into."