AJ vs Prenga was not a fixed fight. Usyk vs Rico was.

Why Usyk Verhoeven was fixed
Usyk spent the first ten rounds applying almost no pressure, throwing with no intent, and barely trying to land anything meaningful. I couldn't tell you how many punches he landed on Verhoeven in those rounds - it was single digits, and power punches were 0. He was visible pulling his punches.

That alone is unusual, but it becomes impossible to explain once his proven ability is considered. This is the same fighter who landed consistently on Tyson Fury — one of the best defensive heavyweights of the era — and even rocked him multiple times. That was only two years ago - one year ago he knocked out a way bigger puncher than Rico in Dubois.

If Usyk can break through Fury’s elite defence, it makes no sense that he “couldn’t” land a single proper punch on a old kickboxer with stiff footwork and basic boxing fundamentals. Verhoeven wasn’t doing anything defensively special; his technique was just awkward and amateurish. The 'technical' videos trying to explain Verhoeven's tactics on youtube are seriously funny.

The moment Usyk finally threw with real intent in round eleven which was very obvious, he dropped Verhoeven instantly, showing he could have done this at any earlier point. When an elite boxer who has proven he can land on the best suddenly spends ten rounds not landing on a far weaker opponent, the performance doesn’t look like a struggle — it looks controlled.

Why AJ Prenga was not fixed
Boxing 2026 07 25 Antony Joshua Vs Kristian Prenga - video Dailymotion
People see Prenga's inactivity in the second round as evidence that he threw the fight. This is because the KDs in the first round gave the impression he was constantly pressing AJ. Prenga landed some bombs on AJ in the first round but was not throwing with volume, and was simply following an injured opponent. He was not doing anything tactically in terms of pressure/pacing.

In the first round Prenga is clearly trying to knock AJ - this is obvious, and at the very least means this part of the fight was not fixed and means he was actively trying to win (which is at direct odds as to what people are claiming).

In round 2, AJ has changed the pace/was less slowed by KD. What is key here is that, in close exchanges Prenga is not pulling his punches he is actively throwing hard with intent/countering but is being beaten to the punch/ held up when he tries to. Prenga never had the pacing/pressure from the get go, he simply hurt AJ and followed him around trying to KO him. This gave the impression that he was "fighting" in the first and not fighting in the second.

Prenga is however still actively trying to take AJ's head off in round 2. Just very unsuccessfully.

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Usyk on the other hand didn't up the tempo at all with Rico, which is his usual spiel, couldn't land a decent punch on him for 10 rounds, despite him doing so against one of the best defensive heavyweights in Fury.